14 June 2024, Rome: FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, and H.E. Frank K. Tumwebaze, Minister for Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries of Uganda, met today at FAO headquarters in Rome on the margins of the 175th Session of the FAO Council.
The Director-General welcomed the Minister and thanked him for the support extended to him and FAO in the execution of their mandate in Uganda and in the region, and recognized the longstanding and fruitful working relations that exist between the organization and the people of Uganda.
The Minister thanked the Director-General and expressed deep appreciation for the strong support extended to Uganda through various projects and initiatives especially on foot-and-mouth disease, which is a great challenge in the country.
He requested support from FAO, together with other development partners, to create a fund that would support and address priority issues in the country, in particular, animal heath, climate change, foot-and-mouth disease, plant pest diseases especially on coffee plantations, fertilizers, and small and rural farmers.
The Director-General welcomed the proposal and stressed the importance of working with international financial institutions such as the World Bank.
The Minister informed that Uganda would be hosting the Extraordinary Summit of the Heads of State of the African Union in January 2025 and requested FAO’s technical support for the implementation of the post-Malabo Framework under the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), currently being formulated by Uganda, to lead work in agriculture across the African continent in the next twenty years. The Director-General reaffirmed FAO’s commitment to providing all the technical support needed.
Both agreed to continue working together towards agrifood systems transformation under the guiding principle of the Four Betters to guide FAO’s work on SDG 1 (No poverty), SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities), as well as for furthering the broader 2030 Agenda.
