Sector showcases support for youth development

30/10/2020

Kampala, 30th October 2020. The Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries was represented at the 6th Africa Agribusiness Incubation Conference and Expo by teams from the National Farmers Leadership Center in Kampiringisa and youth trainees of Ministry projects.

These included youth trainees of the Farm Income Enhancement Program-Project 2 (FIEFOC-2 Project) which is rolled out by government through the Ministry of Water and Environment and MAAIF.

The project provides training for youth with support from the African Development Bank Group through a programme known as Empowering Novel Agri-Business-Led Employment for Youth in Uganda’s Agriculture (ENABLE) Youth Programme.

The program aims at creating opportunities for young ‘agri-entrepreneurs’ to upgrade technical skills, adopt innovative agricultural business management practices and access expansion capital with a flexible program design that is country specific.

The youth are supported to develop enterprises in the water shed areas of the Wadelai, Tochi, Mubuku II, Doho II, and Ngenge irrigation schemes in Uganda.As announced at the Conference, Uganda has received 2 continental Awards, one for Best Technology Incubator received by the Uganda Industrial Research Institute (UIRI) and Best Agribusiness Incubator in Africa received by the Consortium for University Responsiveness to Agribusiness Development (CURAD).

The Youth also made use of the platform to showcase value-added products from Uganda’s leading agricultural export commodity which is Coffee at the Youth Coffee Day as a side-event of the continental conference and Expo.The Agricultural sector was also represented by a team from Operation Wealth Creation led by Gen. Charles Angina the Deputy Chief Coordinator.OWC is supporting youth business Incubation at the Kapeeka Facility in collaboration with Agribusiness Incubators.

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).