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Agriculture Minister Frank Tumwebaze has urged development partners, including the World Bank, to expedite procurement processes for government-supported projects to ensure timely implementation and results.

Agriculture minister Frank Tumwebaze speaking at the launch of the of the Uganda Climate Smart Agricultural Transformation Project (UCSATP). (Photo by New Vision)

Agriculture minister Hon. Frank Tumwebaze has urged development partners to speed up procurement processes of projects they support through the government ministries.

He said this will in turn expedite implementation of the projects and lead to timely results.

Tumwebaze made the call on Tuesday while officiating at an ongoing stakeholder engagement following the launch of the Uganda Climate Smart Agricultural Transformation Project (UCSATP) at Speke Resort Munyonyo.

Funded by the World Bank, UCSATP will be implemented by the agriculture ministry and supported by local governments.

Tumwebaze’s call followed complaints from district chairpersons and local government leaders in attendance about the pace of procurement processes.

“I appreciate the World Bank through the Ministry of Finance for processing this project and rolling it out. But delays are beyond the ministry,” he said.

“You design the project, it has to be approved by Cabinet, Parliament and then final approval from donors like the World Bank. So, request for quicker processes.”

A group photo after the launch. (Photo by Newvision)

UCSATP aims to increase productivity, market access and resilience of selected value chains in the project area and to respond promptly and effectively to crisis or emergency.

Selected value chains include crops such as coffee, cocoa, mango, citrus fruits, Hass avocado, cashew nuts, cassava, soybeans, sorghum, maize, as well dairy and beef, fish capture and aquaculture, bees and black soldier flies.

To ensure the productivity of the selected commodities, the project will work through five components, which are;

▪️ Strengthening climate-smart agricultural research

▪️ Seed and agro-climatic information systems

▪️ Promoting adoption of climate-smart agriculture technologies and practices

▪️ Market development

▪️ Linkages for selected value chains

Because the support will be channeled through selected groups, agriculture minister Tumwebaze called on district chairpersons, resident district commissioners (RDCs), and chief administrative officers to work with community development officers to ensure the authenticity of beneficiary groups.