NAADS procurement to be reformed
Jul 04, 2011
FARMER groups will be empowered to oversee the procurement of farm inputs to reduce the procurement flaws in the NAADS programme, the Minister of Agriculture, Tess Bucyananyandi, has said.
By David Mugabe
FARMER groups will be empowered to oversee the procurement of farm inputs to reduce the procurement flaws in the NAADS programme, the Minister of Agriculture, Tess Bucyananyandi, has said.
Bucyanayandi made the disclosure at a media briefing in Kampala yesterday.
He said the Government intended to take away the sourcing of inputs from the NAADS office in addition to ensuring that concerned officials provide reports that show actual work done.
“We are going to insist that the reports are in tangible things, showing production growth. This is the language that people understand,†said Bucyanayandi.
NAADS, a Government advisory scheme that was intended to guide the agriculture sector turned out to be a corruption-riddled scheme.
The Government has on numerous occasions suspended NAADS activities due to public outcry that its impact was not being felt on the ground.
Bucyanayandi did not say when the ministry will start the new initiatives.
Uganda’s agriculture sector employs 73% of the entire population and contributes about 20% to GDP.
But there are concerns that despite its huge role in creating employment, the Government is not giving the sector the priority it deserves especially in budgetary allocations. Agriculture got sh437 billion in the 2011/2012 budget compared to Works, which got about 1.2 trillion.
Agriculture also accounts for 48% of exports especially with the new market openings in southern Sudan, eastern DRC and Kenya.
In another development, fisheries state minister Ruth Nankabirwa said despite the Government investments in the sector, there are several private partnerships that are propping up the low public investments.
She said she is determined to rid the lake of immature fishing and is still studying the law whether she can institute tough measures such as authorizing the public to snatch any immature fish they find in the market place and eat it.
FARMER groups will be empowered to oversee the procurement of farm inputs to reduce the procurement flaws in the NAADS programme, the Minister of Agriculture, Tess Bucyananyandi, has said.
Bucyanayandi made the disclosure at a media briefing in Kampala yesterday.
He said the Government intended to take away the sourcing of inputs from the NAADS office in addition to ensuring that concerned officials provide reports that show actual work done.
“We are going to insist that the reports are in tangible things, showing production growth. This is the language that people understand,†said Bucyanayandi.
NAADS, a Government advisory scheme that was intended to guide the agriculture sector turned out to be a corruption-riddled scheme.
The Government has on numerous occasions suspended NAADS activities due to public outcry that its impact was not being felt on the ground.
Bucyanayandi did not say when the ministry will start the new initiatives.
Uganda’s agriculture sector employs 73% of the entire population and contributes about 20% to GDP.
But there are concerns that despite its huge role in creating employment, the Government is not giving the sector the priority it deserves especially in budgetary allocations. Agriculture got sh437 billion in the 2011/2012 budget compared to Works, which got about 1.2 trillion.
Agriculture also accounts for 48% of exports especially with the new market openings in southern Sudan, eastern DRC and Kenya.
In another development, fisheries state minister Ruth Nankabirwa said despite the Government investments in the sector, there are several private partnerships that are propping up the low public investments.
She said she is determined to rid the lake of immature fishing and is still studying the law whether she can institute tough measures such as authorizing the public to snatch any immature fish they find in the market place and eat it.