MINISTER | TUMWEBAZE | NARO

The new governing council of the National Agriculture Research Organisation (NARO) has been tasked with carrying out useful research. 

Inaugurating the new 16-member Governing council at the ministry offices in Entebbe, the Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF), Frank Tumwebaze, said while NARO is a research Organisation, most of its research and the innovations developed do not benefit the ordinary farmers. 

The 16-member council is to be chaired by William Olaho Mukani with other members including Dr Ambrose Agona, the Director General NARO, and Maj Gen David Kasura-Kyomukama the ministry’s permanent secretary. 

Others include Kenneth Katungisa, Dr. John Wasige, Jolly Kateeba, Olivia Nankunda, Susan Owino, Sharon Akullo, George Onya, Sylvester Baguma, Dr. Sam Mugasi, Dr. Martin Mongol, Dr. Ramathan Ggoobi and Professor James Kajete. 

Tumwebaze challenged the new council to ensure that the organisation carries out deliberate and useful research which must be relevant to the farmers and meet their needs. 

He cited the development of simple affordable irrigation technologies which can be utilised by the farmers amidst the growing vagaries of nature. 

The ministry's Permanent Secretary Maj Gen David Kasura-Kyomukama reminded the council that the country has 70 percent of households engaged in agriculture with the majority being smallholder farmers who produce less than 25% of GDP and less than 50 % of exports. 

He said the new council, therefore, has an opportunity to contribute to transforming the country's agriculture. 

On his part, the new governing council chair Prof William Olaho called for support from the minister and permanent Secretary to enable them to deliver on their mandate. 

He also emphasised the importance of embracing technology to be able to improve agriculture production amidst growing challenges of climate change and population increase. 

MAAIF with the mandate to coordinate and oversee all aspects of public-funded agricultural research in Uganda. 

Established as a body corporate by the National Agricultural Research Act of 2005, NARO comprises a Governing Council, a Secretariat and 16 Public Agricultural Research Institutes (PARIs) spread across the country. 

NARO is mandated to undertake research in all aspects of agriculture including crops, livestock, fisheries, forestry, agro-machinery, natural resources and socio-economics.