By Michael Odeng and Caro Kasujja Adii
The Minister for Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAF), Frank Tumwebaze, has said that the Government is committed to supporting farmers.
“As the Government, we are committed to solving the issue of agricultural finance through Parish Development Model (PDM) in order to support large and small-scale farmers with machinery so as to make the agriculture sector sustainable in terms of production,” he said.
Tumwebaze said agricultural finance empowers poor farmers to increase their wealth and facilitates the development of food value chains that is able to feed Ugandans.
According to him, small-scale farmers practicing zero-grazing should be able to get animal feeds at a cheaper price from local producers.
He made the remarks yesterday (Saturday, February 11) after officially launching the seventh Harvest Money expo at the training rooms as he observed how the training is being conducted at the Kololo Independence Grounds in Kampala.
The minister first launched the Netherlands Village stall at 11:20am, before proceeding to tour other stalls in the company of Vision Group bosses, who included the Chief Executive Office at Vision Group Don Wanyama, Vision Group Deputy Managing Director Gervase Ndyanabo and the New Vision Editor-in-Chief, Barbara Kaija.
He also commended the Netherlands Embassy for passionately supporting, talking and walking the talk of farming. Supported by the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the village at the expo has several stalls, conducting skills’ training.
Other prominent exhibitors are the Kawumu Tannery Factory under State House. Farmers and event-goers are paying sh10,000 for entrance and an extra sh10,000 for the training sessions that start at 10:00am and end at 5:00pm daily. The expo ends on Sunday, February 12.
The Kingdom of Netherlands is one of the big sponsors of Harvest Money expo organised by Vision Group. Others are the agriculture ministry, National Agriculture Advisory Services (NAADS), Pepsi, Engineering Solutions Ltd (ENGSOL), RIELA/UPFRONT, Agricultural Credit Facility, Uganda Warehouse Receipt System Authority, Champrisa International and State House.
