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Buganda Katikiro Charles Peter Mayiga has called on the people of the kingdom to embrace science in their farming activities.

Through science, he says, there will be food security at the household level and some for sale, which will reduce poverty levels.

“It is embarassing in this era to find a family sharing a bedsit with children, pitting on a gomesi during daytime and as a blanket at night, having one meal per day, because people are poor. Yet if they work with science, they can get the knowledge of growing more food in a small space which they can eat and sell to meet basic needs,” Mayiga says.

Mayiga adds that through his visits to agriculture research institutes, the idea is for kingdom officials to learn the importance of research and how this can be adopted by farmers in the kingdom to improve their farming methods for food security and elimination of household poverty.

“We have come here to get knowledge, ideas and learn from you scientists how we can get our people out of poverty. This will not only promote Buganda Kingdom, but is the desire of the central government to see that poverty at the household level is eliminated,” he adds.

Mayiga made the call on Tuesday while addressing researchers and representatives of Buganda Kingdom at the National Agriculture Research Laboratories in Kawanda, Wakiso district.

A team from NARO engineering institute display different machinery including manual maize sheller. (Photo by Prossy Nandudu)

Mayiga, who kicked off the day with a tour of different research institutions in the central region, like the coffee research institute, Mukono Zonal Agriculture Research Institute, and the National Livestock Resources Research Institute, was also shown the different technologies at each institute that should be adopted for increased food security and incomes.

At Kawanda, primary processing machinery such as the forage chopper for livestock, cassava chippers, and maize shellers were displayed. He was also shown value-added products from the incubation centre such as powdered tomatoes, pumpkins and then the latest banana varieties, with fibre extracted to make hair extensions among others.

Welcoming the Mengo team at the institute, NARL research director, Dr Rabooni Tumuhimbise, appealed to Mayiga to mobilise his subjects to embrace technologies from research institutions.