LIRA- In a bid to ensure food security in the country, government has so far approved Shs 176 billion to enhance massive production of four major food crops in selected regions.
The undersecretary in the Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries [MAAIF], Ronald Ssegawa Gyagenda disclosed the figures this week to the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture at Ngetta zonal Agricultural Research and Development Institute [ZARDI] in Lira City.
He said in the first phase of the projects, six government agencies which include National Agricultural Research Organisation [NARO], Uganda Prison Service, Uganda People`s Defence Force [UPDF], National Animal Genetic Resource Centre [NAGRC] and National Enterprise Corporation [NEC] have been identified to produce enough food and stock for any emergency.
The crops are maize, beans, soybeans, and sorghum, and government through the agencies is expected to raise 110,000 acres of land under production.
“The intension of government is to intensify production of security crops to address the scarcity we have been experiencing in some parts of the country and to make sure that our animals have food,” he said.
In August this year, cabinet took a decision to carry out immediate short and medium-term strategies to produce food where the government agencies were given a prompt mandate to produce food in order to avert food shortage in the country.
The decision followed acute famine reported in the country three months ago, especially in the Karamoja Sub-region where some people died of hunger-related illnesses. The most affected were the children, women, and the elderly.
The vice chairperson of parliament’s agriculture committee, Dr. Agnes Apea who headed the legislators during a visit to Ngetta ZARDI said government’s intervention to avert food insecurity in the country is yielding fruits.
“Government through H.E the President, said that we need as a country to produce food and animal feeds and as a committee, we started this journey from Busoga, Teso, and today [Monday] we are in Lango,” she said.
“But I want to say that … I am very impressed with the yields [maize and soybeans] and as parliament, an intervention of this nature gives us hope as representative of the people,” she added.
She said by doing so the country will be able to address the counterfeit seeds because the crops promoted are foundation seeds being produced by scientists.
Dr. Laban Turygenda, the director Ngetta ZARDI requested government to avail the agencies engaged in massive food production with more tractors and other agricultural machinery to ease their operations.
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