KAMPALA, Aug 23 (NNN-KBC) — Uganda Minister for Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries Frank Tumwebaze says the Kampala Declaration which comes into effect next year replacing the Malabo Declaration of 2014 will have to address gaps that exist within the agri-food systems.
Tumwebaze says that the Kampala Declaration has to come up with a strategy on how governments must plan, “for food security, animal feed security, nutrition security and even seed security, because without all these, there is no agriculture.”
The Minister argues that seed is very important if agriculture has to succeed, and adds that “we never used to plan for animal feeds, we used to think that animal feeds were something exotic, but now we realize that what you feed the animal is what becomes your health,” says Tumwebaze and adds, “that is why now we talk of one-health.”
In an interview at the ongoing Validation workshop of the Ten-Year CAADP Strategy and Action Plan (2026-2035) in Kampala, Uganda, the Ugandan Minister further argued that it is no longer sustainable for livestock to continue to depend on nature for sustenance, adding that there is need to plan for animal feeds much the same way as there are plans for food security.
The Minister who is also the Chairman of the African Union Specialised Technical Committee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Water and Environment, notes that the next ten years of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) should have a hybrid approach towards inclusive growth. He notes that the hybrid strategy should involve both the smallholder farmers as well as the large-scale farmers.
“There is a need to create incentives that bring on board more people with idle land into the production such as mechanization support, value addition, integration of agri-food systems and markets as well as the development of value chains,” he says.
While noting that Uganda has a strong agri-food system, Tumwebaze said that this has been realized through robust policies that “integrate all the actors, in the agriculture value-chain and put them on the policy table.”
He notes that under Agenda 2063, CAADP contributes to the first aspiration which is A prosperous Africa, based on inclusive growth and sustainable development, “as we move to the next phase of CAADP, we should pay special attention to where we have had strengths and consolidate them; and identify where we have had gaps in terms of priorities, systems, and approaches and plug them,” he says.
The Minister called for increased participation by member states in developing the new strategy and Action Plan for 2026-2035 that builds on the principles and values of the CAADP process, “taking into account current developments in areas such as technology advancement and regional and global geopolitics.” — NNN-KBC
