Hon. Kasule Lumumba the State Minister in Charge of ……..at the Office of the Prime Minister has pledged the government’s assured support to youths engaged in commercial agriculture.
Lumumba said that if more youth engage in commercial agriculture, it will help to solve the issue of unemployment which has become a continuous predicament in Uganda.
“Government is working towards ensuring that youths dealing in agriculture gets smooth financing and that partly explains why we have the Agriculture Credit Facility at Bank of Uganda which you can access at a small rate,” she said.
The Minister made these remarks in her speech, which was led to the youth by Timothy Lubanga, the Commissioner incharge of Evaluation at the OPM while closing the two-day 1st National Empowerment and Development in Commercial Agriculture Conference in Kampala.
Lumumba also rallied youths, to embrace government programs like the Parish Development Model which will help them in developing their commercial agriculture since it’s aimed at getting all Ugandans out of poverty.
“In terms of policy, the government is working towards reducing the cost of fertilizers by promoting its production here, promoting irrigation so that we don’t get affected by climate change issues,” she added
Speaking at the conference,
Laban Joshua Musinguzi the co-founder and ED Agrofresh Ltd who doubles as the President of the Youth Coalition for SDGs said that youths have embraced commercial agriculture and only need vital support to ignite the sector.
“We want to be seen as youth who can add value to commercial agriculture and the country’s development,” he said
Musinguzi said urged youths to prioritize engaging in organic farming since it produces food that is less harmful than its other counterparts.
“We want to ensure that our food is organic and this will reduce the rate of diseases in children that get malnutrition issues,” he sad
The two days conference was organized by Yo Uganda in Partnership with Agrofresh, Housing Finance Bank, and Bank of Uganda.
It attracted over 2000 youth farmers who decried the lack of capital, fertilizers, and unfavorable weather that is hindering their prosperity in commercial agriculture.
