Uganda hails cooperation with China in agricultural sector

KAMPALA -- Uganda on Thursday hailed its tripartite cooperation with China and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) under the South-South cooperation framework.

David Kasura Kyomukama, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, said various poverty alleviation projects have been implemented in rural Uganda.

Kyomukama, while meeting a visiting delegation from the College of International Development and Global Agriculture of China Agricultural University, said through the third phase of the FAO-China-Uganda South-South Cooperation Project, the ministry is collaborating in the value chains of foxtail millet, dairy, hybrid rice, aquaculture and poultry.

"Through this cooperation, we have picked good lessons from the People's Republic of China, one of the leading producers of foxtail millet. Foxtail millet can be harvested 80 to 90 days after sowing with an average yield of 1,000 to 1,200 kg per acre," said the permanent secretary.

Kyomukama said experts from Uganda and the Chinse team are working together to develop at least two value-added products from foxtail millet, establish at least three demonstration sites, and support at least 500 small-scale foxtail millet farmers.

FAO, Uganda and China early this year launched the third phase of the FAO-China-Uganda South-South Cooperation project.

In the new phase, the project will reach more than 9,600 beneficiaries across 20 districts, including about 7,000 small-scale crop farmers of mainly rice and foxtail millet, 1,000 livestock farmers and hundreds of fish farmers in the eastern, western and northern parts of the country.