Tumwebaze Hands Over 100 Motorcycles and Tablets to Agricultural Inspectors

The Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) Frank Tumwebaze has officially handed over 100 motorcycles and 73 Samsung tablets to Agricultural Inspectors.

According to the Minister, the equipment was donated by Agriculture Green Revolution for Africa (AGRA) to support mobility of seed certification inspectors and data collection.

The motorcycles worth ugx958 million are part of the 1.3 billion shillings grant offered by AGRA for the implementation of ‘Strengthening the National Seed Certification Services’ project.

While speaking at the hand over ceremony at MAAIF office on Tuesday, 15^th November 2022, Tumwebaze appreciated AGRA for continually providing support to the agricultural sector and urged them to continue so that farmers are helped in transition from subsistence agriculture to commercial agriculture.

 Tumwebaze stated that seed inspection is one of the strategic interventions employed by the government to ensure that there are quality seeds on the market to promote good yields for the farmers.

18 government Seed Inspectors across the country recently received refresher training while 104 extension workers were given specialized training in seed inspection and equipped to work as Para-seed Inspectors to support the Seed inspectors employed by the ministry.

“The motorbikes are expected to ease mobility of these para-seed inspectors in conducting field inspection of seed-multiplication sites while the tablets will help in transferring of information to the Seed Traceability and tracking System being rolled out by MAAIF to ensure access to quality seed,” Tumwebaze noted.

“My ministry wants to be part of the alliance for a green revolution in Africa not just by receiving grants and donations from you but by participating and leading the green revolution in Uganda and the region,” he added.

Tumwebaze stated that the ministry is currently leading a multi-institutional effort to produce large volumes of grain/seeds as a government intervention to avert the looming threat of food shortage in the country and through that the ministry is greening Uganda with thousands of acres under crop production in just this season alone.

“In the area of inputs, we have a fully-fledged Department which is responsible for quality assurance of all inputs used in the crop value chain which can leverage on in implementation of any future strategy as you strive to create the much-desired green revolution in Africa,” he added.

Tumwebaze also emphasized the need for quality seeds for farmers benefiting from Parish Development Model (PDM).

“I want to inform you that as a Ministry we have a task to ensure that farmers who get money through PDM access quality seed (inputs) that will help them to increase on their production and productivity and contribute to the government agro-industrialization agenda and this we shall do,” he said.