Uganda Agri-Business fact finding delegation visit Ireland lead by the Ugandan Minister for Agriculture, Animal and Fisheries, Mr. Vincent Ssempijja

The Ugandan Honorary Consul to Ireland is delighted to announce that the Agriculture Minister, Mr. Vincent Ssempijja is leading a delegation of 22 Agri-Business Farmers to visit The National Ploughing Championship on Wednesday 20th of September.

With their fact finding mission the Ugandan farmers hope to learn from Irish farmers how they have managed farming growth and development. They too are looking for farmers who may be interested in partnering with Ugandan Farmers in diverse areas of agri-business, such as, Dairy farming, mushroom and Pumpkin growing, poultry and vegetable growing as well as the Agri-business technology sector. The delegation will visit different Agri-Businesses in Ireland.

In Uganda over 80% of the population are employed in Agriculture. This accounts for an estimated 42% of gross domestic product (GDP) (FAO, 2012). Although agriculture is the main source of people’s income, most farmers are not engaged in meaningful commercial farming. The persistent challenges of the sector include low productivity; weak and unskilled agri-enterprises and low import-export balance emanating from low and poor quality agri-products, inadequate access to tailored agri-product and service premium markets, low agribusiness competitiveness, less input and financial credit, low improved technology at all levels of the commodities value chain, and less employed manpower. The major technologies hindering agricultural and agribusiness development include low production and agro-processing mechanization, and absence of relevant ICT to boost the agribusiness value chains.

This fact finding mission hopes to find solutions that will be affordable and practical strategies in addressing the agribusiness constraints impacting on productivity, skilled enterprises and import-export equilibriums by tapping synergies, comparative advantages, and system’s approach for the mutual benefits of Ireland and Ugandan economies.

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