By Wilfred Sanya
African States have been advised to embrace newly developed technology to transform and strengthen the agricultural sector.
“African states should adopt developed technology to improve the agricultural products including seeds as they compete in the global market,” said Enock Warinda, the Executive Director of the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA).
According to Warinda, we are leaving in the 21st century where technology is key in day-to-day business, especially in agriculture, member States should, therefore, use technology to transform the agricultural sector.
Warinda made the remarks at the opening of three days Agriculture Ministerial Conference at Speke Resort Munyonyo on May 17, 2023.
The 2023 Agriculture Ministerial Conference is running under the theme: “Building Resilient Food Systems to Feed Africa for Generation”, aimed at calling African members to work together to improve African agricultural products.
“When we gather together as Africans and share information with the farmers, they benefit a lot from the knowledge flow of information to enhance and implementation of technological innovations,” he said.
He said this will increase productivity and commercialization in the agricultural sector.
According to World Food Program (WFP), this year, 16.4 million Ugandans face insufficient food consumption. This represents an increase of 1.2 million food-insecure persons based on the last three months of 2022 reflecting malnutrition in 29 percent of children under five years.
Bright Rwamirama, the State Minister for animal husbandry while opening the conference, thanked the leadership of ASEREKA which has spearheaded the growth of their membership to 14 countries.
