A five member delegation from Uganda’s Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries arrived over the weekend for a study tour. The delegation led by the Assistant Commissioner for Policy Analysis, Robert Bellarmine Okudi, is expected to discuss issues concerning food security with their Rwandan counterparts.“We want to learn from our counterparts here on how the Rwandan government has managed to effectively and efficiently utilise the available resources,” Okudi said.He added that they would also share experiences on resource management as well as the fight against corruption in the sector.The delegation is also expected to visit various agricultural projects.According to Okudi, the two countries have already signed a memorandum of understanding under which they share research findings on how to improve the agriculture sector in the respective countries.“The National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) Secretariat is embarking on a new programme on how to improve the agriculture sector in Uganda. To make this programme successful requires coming up with a governance and anticorruption policy and it’s in this regard that we decided to visit Rwanda,” Okudi said.Speaking to The New Times, yesterday, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Ernest Ruzindaza, said the group will also visit Rural Sector Support Project that is funded by the World Bank, where they will be shown how to improve public financial management in the agriculture sector.“We are happy that our counterparts from Uganda’s Ministry of Agriculture are visiting us. It will help the two ministries to discuss on various mechanisms and strategies on how best we can improve on food security and other necessary projects in the agriculture sector,” Ruzindaza said. He added that the officials will also visit Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB) to see how the institution carries out its work, especially in the areas of agriculture research.Dr. Mwalimu Musheshe, the Chairman of Board of Director of NAADS said: “It’s very important for the East African countries to start looking for technologies to produce enough food for EAC population and also get surplus for the markets.”“Rwanda is making positive strides towards good governance and managing issues concerning corruption and I believe that this visit will enable us get new strategies and mechanisms on how to fight corruption and improve good governance in the agriculture sector back home,” Dr Musheshe said.
