Museveni, Dutch ambassador discuss boosting raw materials for animal feed industry

KAMPALA - President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has called for increased production of key agricultural raw materials as Uganda seeks to support the expanding animal feed industry and attract further investment in the sector.

Museveni made the remarks on Tuesday (June 2) during a meeting at State House, Entebbe, with the Ambassador of the Netherlands to Uganda, Frederieke Quispel, where discussions centred on agriculture, animal feeds, fish farming and broader economic cooperation between the two countries.

A key focus of the talks was the rising demand for raw materials such as maize, cassava and soya to sustain Dutch investments, including the De Heus Fish Feed Factory in Jinja.

“We shall now produce more maize and cassava,” President Museveni said.

He added that he would convene a conference of maize growers to explore ways of increasing output to meet industrial demand.

“I am going to convene a conference of maize growers,” he noted.

Museveni also proposed the removal of tax duty on locally produced animal feeds to boost investment and strengthen domestic production.

On environmental protection, he said government is promoting fish farming as a way of reducing pressure on wetlands.

“I want you to do fish farming as a strategy to get the locals out of the wetlands. I want to get those rice growers out of the wetlands,” he said.

Ambassador Quispel said her posting in Uganda had been the most fulfilling in her diplomatic career.

“This is the best job I have had in my entire career,” she said.

She also conveyed greetings from the King of the Netherlands and confirmed that about 60 Dutch companies are currently operating in Uganda, making the Netherlands one of the country’s largest investors.

However, she noted that animal feed factories continue to face shortages of local raw materials and are forced to import supplies such as soya from Zambia.

“We work with smallholder farmers but the supply is still not enough,” she said.
She expressed willingness from Dutch investors to support cooperatives to increase production.

“Our people are willing to invest in these cooperatives. There is a lot of demand for these raw materials for feed,” she said.