By Joel Ogwang

LOCAL researchers should embrace modern technology to remain vibrant and steer Uganda out of poverty, Ephraim Kamuntu, the industry state minister, has said.

He noted that more research in agriculture was needed to transform the economy from subsistence to market-oriented production.

The minister, however, observed that the rapid advancements in science and technology made research a complex venture.

“The challenge now is to cope with the pace of the ever-changing sophistication in science and technology and to develop capability to comprehend and resolve the associated ethical dilemmas that may arise,” Kamuntu said in a speech read by Ruth Nankabirwa, the micro-finance state minister, at the opening of the first annual national research ethics conference at Colline Hotel in Mukono.

Uganda is one of the world’s poorest countries, with 31% (about 9.4 million) of its 30 million population living in absolute poverty.

This, according to the World Bank estimates, implies that these people survive on less than one dollar (or sh2,070) a day.