PRESIDENT MUSEVENI APPLAUDS PROPOSED REGIONAL FARM SERVICE CENTRE INITIATIVE

President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has today welcomed a proposal for a
Regional Farm Service Centre Initiative aimed at addressing challenges
in Uganda’s agricultural sector, particularly the growing concern of
counterfeit agro inputs.

The President made the remarks while meeting a delegation from South
Africa led by Mr. Andile Ramaphosa at State Lodge, Nakasero.

The delegation presented a proposal for a tripartite collaboration
involving Namunkekera Farm Service Centre, the National Animal
Genetic Resources Centre and Data Bank (NAGRC&DB), and Mr.
Ramaphosa.

The proposed partnership seeks to establish infrastructure for the
profiling, controlled breeding, harvesting, and export of Ankole cattle
genetics to the Southern African Development Community (SADC)
region and beyond.

“We would like to improve the quality of cattle to be like the ones in
South Africa,” Mr. Ramaphosa said.

President Museveni expressed appreciation to the partners for coming
up with the initiative, describing it as a positive step towards Uganda’s
livestock.

“I wish to express my gratitude to these people for awakening from
slumber and coming up with ideas that can contribute to the
transformation of our agricultural sector,” the President said.

The proposal also includes the establishment of a Build, Operate, and
Transfer (B.O.T) laboratory, which would support quality assurance,
regulation, and verification of agricultural inputs as part of efforts to
combat counterfeit agro inputs in the country.

President Museveni advised the delegation to detach according to
different characteristics.

“If you want to farm, get a specific gene, they must have characteristics,
some are fat, have high value milk and the ones which give good
offsprings”, he said.

The proposed collaboration is expected to contribute to the growth of
Uganda’s livestock industry and strengthen regional trade in Ankole
cattle genetics.