Public Notice of temporary (1 day) closure of Ministry Headquarters

Entebbe, 10th September 2020. As recorded in results returned from COVID-19 tests undertaken by the Ministry of Health, one person’s sample has been reported as positive.

In response to this situation, a team from the Ministry of Health will be carrying out fumigation of Ministry premises as contacts are traced.

To allow for effective fumigation, the Ministry Headquarters in Entebbe will therefore remain closed to staff and the general public tomorrow, Friday the 11th of September 2020.

Necessary medical attention is also being accorded to the person currently under the care of Ministry of Health COVID-Control teams.

Going forward, the Ministry will continue to undertake all mandatory control measures and communication of Standard Operating Procedures put in place to curb the spread of the Corona Virus.

Farmer Group Leaders and coordinators at District Level are reminded to continue following the guidance provided by the Honourable Vincent Bamulangaki Ssempijja the Minister for Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries.

An excerpt is available in the video below:

Notes for editors

About the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF)

The Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries is a Ministry in the Government of Uganda charged with creating an enabling environment in the Agricultural Sector.

The Ministry formulates, reviews and implement national policies, plans, strategies, regulations and standards and enforce laws, regulations and standards along the value chain of crops, livestock and fisheries.

Vision: A competitive, profitable and sustainable agricultural sector.

Mission: To transform subsistence farming to commercial agriculture.

Strategic Objectives

• To initiate the formulation and review of the policy and legal framework for the sector
• To establish and implement systems for service provision in the sector
• To strengthen and implement strategies, regulatory framework, standards, institutional structures and infrastructure for quality assurance and increased quantities of agricultural products to access and sustain local, regional and export markets
• To design and implement sustainable capacity building programmes for stakeholders in the agricultural sector through training, re-tooling, infrastructure, provision of logistics and ICT
• To develop strategies for sustainable food security
• To develop appropriate agricultural technologies for improved agricultural production, productivity and value addition through research
• To develop effective collaborative mechanisms with affiliated institutions and
• To take lead and establish a system and institutional framework for agricultural data collection, analyses, storage and dissemination to stakeholders including Uganda Bureau of Statistics.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) is made up of four Directorates including the Directorate of Crop Resources, Directorate of Animal Resources, Directorate of Agricultural Extension Services and the Directorate of Fisheries Resources each with Departments, Divisions and Partnership Projects.

The Departments of the Ministry which do not fall directly in the above include the Department of Agricultural Planning and Development, the Human Resource Department, the Department of Finance and Administration and the Department of Agricultural Infrastructure, Mechanisation and Water for Agricultural Production.

The Ministry is also made up of seven Agencies including the National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO), the National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS), Cotton Development Organisation (CDO), Dairy Development Authority (DDA), Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) and Coordinating Office for the Control of Trypanosomiasis in Uganda (COCTU) and the National Animal Genetic Resources Centre and Databank (NAGRC&DB).