Ugandans risk limiting the impact of research if findings remain confined to academic circles, the Minister for Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, Frank Tumwebaze, warned Tuesday.
Speaking at the opening of the National Dairy Centre of Excellence (NDCoE) at Mbarara Zonal Agricultural Research and Development Institute, Tumwebaze urged researchers to ensure their work addresses community challenges.
‘Do not shelve your research from the public. When you do research and it is not taken up by the community or cannot address their challenges, then it becomes only academic and that is not very helpful in the socio-economic transformation of the country,’ Tumwebaze said.
He directed all research stations under his ministry to organize farmer field days to showcase innovations and new technologies.
‘Not all people know what you are doing. These technologies and innovations need to be accessed in the most convenient way, do not just sit, and that is why you must have farmer field days,’ Tumwebaze added.
The minister also highlighted the need for better animal and crop breeds to sustain food systems, calling for a national breeding policy to curb fake breeds. ‘It is high time the country came up with a breeding policy if we are to improve production and productivity. There are some people who sell fake breeds and in this policy such people would be criminalized,’ he said.
NDCoE, Tumwebaze said, was partly established to ensure the dairy sector has superior breeds.
Dr Yona Baguma, Director General of the National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO), described the center as a potential game-changer.
‘This center will boost dairy productivity, improve feeding, breeding and management practices. It will develop superior and resilient dairy breeds and equip farmers with practical skills,’ Baguma said, noting that climate change and population growth require high-yield breeds that can be maintained on a small scale.
Baguma said the ministry intends to invest Shs 50 billion over the next five years to achieve NDCoE’s strategic goals.
Mbarara Resident City Commissioner, Catherine Kamwine, emphasized the need for improved farmer access to technologies.
‘It is good you have brought this center of excellence. Farmers still face challenges like production and storage of pasture, which is now key because of climatic change effects,’ Kamwine noted.
Dairy farming remains a significant economic activity in Uganda. The 2021 National Livestock Census by Uganda Bureau of Statistics estimated weekly milk production at 71.7 million liters, up from 12.9 million liters in 2008, translating to 3.72 billion liters annually.
The Western region contributed 40 percent of production, Central 34.3 percent, and the Northern region the least at 3.7 percent.