The new Ministry for Science, Technology and Innovations (MoSTI) has been tasked to prioritise agricultural research and technology if Uganda is to benefit from its creation, especially on managing adverse impacts of climate change.
This call was issued at a recent meeting in Kampala between farmers, scientists, the media and youth with officials from Parliament and Uganda National Council for Science and Technology (UNCST).
It was noted that key challenges to farming in Uganda are drought or persistent dry-spells, eruption of pests and diseases, declining soil fertility, high cost of inputs and ignorance.
Hoima Municipality MP, Lawrence Bategeka presented a paper “The Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation in Uganda Starting 2016: What it should do, how, where, and when?”
In it, he explained that while Uganda has been agriculture-dependent since colonial times, productivity has remained low while population growth explodes along with unsustainably low levels of food security.
He added: “Uganda needs significant increases in productivity especially in agriculture. For most of the past three decades, growth of agriculture has lagged behind population.
Agriculture grew at an average rate of less than 1.5 percent per annum compared to an average population growth rate of about three percent.”
Bategeka, who formerly worked at Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC), pointed out that the creation of MoSTI was timely.
“The disparity suggests hunger and malnutrition has been worsening. Existence of technologies by Naro could have helped address the challenge if the institutional mechanism that is supportive of innovation existed.”
The thinking then, he noted, was innovation was streamlined within the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries.
With a well spelt out mandate of MoSTI, there is likelihood that focus on innovation and development of institutional mechanisms should be quicker.
“Uganda has established MoSTI against a background of low productivity in sectors of the economy namely agriculture, industry, and services,” Bategeka proposed an d was supported by participants who included students from Makerere and Kyambogo Universities.
President Yoweri Museveni last year added Science and Technology docket to Ministry of Education and Sports.
He also appointed Prof. Tickodri Togboa as a state minister in charge of it.
Various stakeholders including Science Foundation for Livelihoods and Development (Scifode) have advocated for a fully-fledged Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.
When it was first included in the Education Ministry, stakeholders were hopeful that a fully-fledged ministry would be established. It was not long until the President announced formation of MoSTI.
It should be noted that the President has always pushed to place science as a top priority sector and has personally supported scientists’ work, through his presidential initiatives.
Scifode’s executive director Arthur Makara, who is a scientist and has previously worked with UNCST, argued that the Ministry should not get lost in regulations and fail to promote science-based knowledge and innovations from all the stakeholders.
He adds: “The new Ministry should take on the format of the existing ministries with directorates, departments and statutory bodies. SCIFODE shares the President’s sentiments and vision for science in this country.”
Edward Tujunirwe, an official from UNCST, informed the meeting that the new Ministry has been housed at UNCST.
The other week, the minister of Finance, Matia Kasaija formally handed to Dr Elioda Tumwesigye the science docket which have been under the Finance ministry for nearly 16 years.
Stakeholders suggested the following as Directorates: Regulations; Manufacturing/Production; Knowledge and Technology, while departments: Innovation Fund; Manufacturing; Services; Value-Chain Processing.
They also suggested the following—that MoSTI revives training of technicians; promotes tax-waivers for some categories of innovators; advances affordable technologies by low-income groups, especially smallholder farmers.
priority as point of focus
Uganda is facing serious challenges to increase productivity across all sectors of the economy. The country faces even more stiff challenges when it comes to producing primary agricultural commodities for export.
No comments:
Post a Comment