Bilateral Meeting with H.E. Rwamirama Bright Kanyontore, Minister for Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries of Uganda

Rome - The FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, met His Excellency Rwamirama Bright Kanyontore, Minister of State for Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries of Uganda at FAO headquarters in Rome.    

The Director-General welcomed the Minister and thanked him for the longstanding support of Uganda to FAO and expressed his hope for more strengthened cooperation. 

The Minister thanked the Director-General, conveyed his appreciation for the meeting, thanked him for the support extended to the people of Uganda by FAO and congratulated him on his re-election for a second term. The Minister stated that Uganda has a long history of collaboration with FAO and reaffirmed the commitment of the government of Uganda to continue strengthening the cooperation.

The Minister highlighted that Uganda is currently the Chair of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and discussed how FAO and Uganda could tap into this opportunity in the next three years.

The Minister further stated that Uganda faces the locus plague challenge and needed support in early warning and monitoring. The Minister also informed that Uganda was working tirelessly to improve their wetlands.

In his response the Director-General affirmed that Uganda could continue to count on FAO’s support. He stated that FAO now has a new Office for Youth and Women, and this could be used to promote Uganda’s empowerment of women and youth through gender transformative programmes and activities.

The Director-General also raised the importance of aquaculture and how it could play a pivotal role in improving farmers' livelihoods and added that FAO could provide support for aquaculture through the FAO Investment Centre for the resource mobilization needed, as well as through South-South Cooperation to help the country improve the livelihoods of small farmers.

The Minister stated that he looked forward to increased collaboration with FAO and confirmed the Government’s commitment to continue agrifood systems transformation for achievement of the Four Betters. Both agreed to continue to work together to make agrifood systems more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable.