Experts call for science and technology approaches, agricultural bank to advance economic growth
Drake Nyamugabwa
Experts under the Ambrosoli Consult Uganda think tank have expressed their concern about the lack of appropriate scientists and technology approaches to solve Africa’s challenges which according to the experts is continuing to lag countries behind and failing to match global standards of development.
The call was made during the Ambrosoli Consult’s end of year engagement held at Serena hotel on Wednesday 21st December 2022.
According to the CEO of Ambrosoli Consult Uganda, Dr. Otanga Rusoke while briefing the media said that there is a need for developing countries like Uganda to have experts trained in science and technology to handle the development agenda of the country in various areas including agriculture, construction, technical among others which he said will go along way to produce global standard products.
“We need over 100 colleges of science and technology to lay a foundation for the development. Uganda needs to have about 25 Million advanced experts with the brain power to utilize the resources to drive economic development based on science and technology” he said
In the agriculture sector, Dr. Rusoke said that there is a need to skill traditional farmers with methods to build their capacity to compete on the global market and modern farming.
“Mix agriculture with science, the existing traditional farmers are leading us to poverty. We need to build the capacity of farmers to compete in world markets and run the economy” he said
On farmers accessing credit from commercial banks, Dr Rusoke urged them to forst acquire knowledge of high production with trained human resources to produce massively to enable them to be analytical while running farms using “a new level of knowledge to run agriculture in Uganda”
Rt. Lt. Magufuri Moses Mugisha a Consultant, and Researcher in above picture, at the sidelines of the end of year engagement said that in order fully commercialize agriculture, there is need to establish a farmers bsed agriculture and cooperative bank that will specifically handle farmers credit arrangement which he said will pull all the scattered funds from the different government financial interventions, lower the interest rate, and improve the farmers and government revenue among other benefits.
“There is too much money scattered in different interventions like Emyooga, YLP, Entandikwa, PDM SACCOs, and others, who govern these funds. Let us have an agriculture-Cooperative bank as a farmer-based bank to boost local industries, and get more revenue through supporting agro-processing” he said
He said with the government’s big shares n some banks like Post Bank, Microfinance, and other, it would be easier to establish the bank to avoid investing in interventions that have not yielded the desired results in the past.
“The effective implementation of the Parish Development Model (PDM) lies in the establishment of an Agriculture-Cooperative bank, with a regulated framework for effective management of funds of parish SACCOs. This will increase production, more revenue, reduce borrowing and have a stable economy” he said
While commenting on the establishment of an agriculture-cooperative bank, Dr. Rusoke concurred with Magufuri adding that the bank will benefit farmers more if it’s coupled with education for farmers on modern agriculture for processing advanced products fit for the global markets.
The MD Ambrosoli Consult Uganda Byamugisha Ambrose pictured above highlighted that the think tank organizes regular sessions every Wednesday for professionals and experts in different fields to discuss economic development issues.
He said that the thinking established a mentorship school with mentorship programs located on Post Office’s top floor, conducting courses for national diplomas, and certificates starting from 6 months period to mentor young entrepreneurs, students, and the general public aimed at bridging the gap for any profession undertaken by Ugandans while setting a pace for brighter carriers.
