On the 8th December 2022, the President of the Republic of Uganda His Excellency Yoweri Kaguta Museveni commissioned agricultural mechanization equipment at the National Agricultural Referral Mechanization center in Namalere, Wakiso district. A total of 150 tractors and 100 motorcycles were handed over to farmers from around the country.
The President emphasized the benefits of mechanization as well as irrigation for farmers to increase production. He was glad that the National Agricultural Referral Mechanization center has evolved into a center that assembles machine parts, which is a cost-saving way of about 405 of the total cost. The mechanization of agriculture is envisaged to increase the yield of food for households as well as income.
According to the Minister of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries Hon. Frank Tumwebaze Kajiji, the target is to reach a stock of 25,000 tractors given to farmers in the next 5-10 years so as to increase the current arable land from the current 34.45 to 64% in the medium term. There is a plan to give away an additional 170 tractors before the end of the year.
The chairperson of the Agricultural Committee in Parliament and the Abim Woman Member of Parliament Jane Grace Akech Okori-moe thanked the President for the initiative and investment he has put in mechanizing agriculture. She thanked the National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) for the science and innovation that seeks to improve food security by availing of improved seed varieties that address food security.
The Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries General David Kasura was grateful for the partnership the Ministry has with the private sector (Cooper Motors Corporation) to assemble tractors at the Mechanization Center.
The center also hosts the Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Program of the National Agricultural Research Laboratories of the National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO).
