Minister inaugurates NAADS board
Jun 14, 2013
Tress Bucyanayandi, the minister of agriculture, animal industry and fisheries, has inaugurated a new 16-member National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) board for the period of 2013 to 2016.
By Jeff Andrew Lule
Tress Bucyanayandi, the minister of agriculture, animal industry and fisheries, has inaugurated a new 16-member National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) board for the period of 2013 to 2016.
The board is headed by Aggrey Bagiire, the former state minister for agriculture, supported by the Executive Director of NAADS, Dr. Samuel Katambi Mugasi.
While inaugurating the new board at Cotton House in Kampala on Tuesday, Bucyanayandi said the board had delayed pending the Cabinet’s approval of the names of the elected members from various regions.
He said the absence of the board had greatly affected the implementation of the sector’s policies thus affecting productivity in NAADS programmes.
Bucyanayandi said he declined to renew the contract of the previous board members headed by Dr. Mwalimu Musheshe since the Government was reviewing the NAADS programme for better service delivery.
“We want to focus on enterprise selection in each of the regions, increase productivity and alleviate poverty to improve the livelihoods of our farmers,” he added.
He called on board members to supervise, formulate policies, budget and give guidance for better service delivery.
Bucyanayandi said they want to enable farmers to produce more, focusing on specific commodities in each area of the country.
“Our emphasis is to increase production. That is why we are focusing more on zoning to see that each area has emphasis on a certain commodity,” he said.
He said the Governemnet will allocate sh184b in the coming financial year, of which sh132b will go to local governments.
Bucyanayandi warned the members against corruption. “We shall not tolerate corruption. The funds must be well untilised to benefit our people,” he added.
He said the Government has also decided to form a unified extension worker forces for effective services.