Government should regulate food prices

Mar 22, 2011

EDITOR: The Government should make every possible effort to bring the rising food prices under control. A rise in food prices will make inflation more difficult and could affect the cause of macro economic stability.

EDITOR: The Government should make every possible effort to bring the rising food prices under control. A rise in food prices will make inflation more difficult and could affect the cause of macro economic stability.

In the future our focus should be on producing more food because there is a high demand for food domestically and externally. We have to maintain adequate food stocks for food security which has become a major global challenge.

We should pay more attention to the factors that result in low productivity of food. We should provide remunerative prices to farmers so that they are encouraged to increase production we should also boost to agricultural research and recognise the need to increase the efficiency of utilisation of inputs.

There is also need to improve farm management practices, reduce post-harvest losses through better post-harvest management technologies in storage, transportation and processing. These can increase both yields and contribute to higher income for the farmer through better value addition.

Our economy has been growing for the past few years. We weathered the global financial crisis relatively well. But, inflation poses a serious threat to the growth momentum. More importantly, because it affects the poor and the vulnerable.

Technology and its applications should reach a broad section of our society. The majority of our people still live in villages. Our rural areas are engaged in the task of feeding the nation.

Internationally, the food situation has deteriorated. Demand for food would grow with rising land and water scarcity as well as increased environmental pressures. Patterns for growth would need to respond to the growing aspirations of the people. The challenges in the future will be many.

We need to find new methodologies, new products, and new ideas. To accomplish these objectives, we need skilled manpower. This includes engineers, researchers and scientists that would provide knowledge and techniques on food security.

Rodney Mugisha
Kampala


(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});