Archive for category: Cooperatives & Communities

Kampala, Uganda: Makerere University Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe has appealed to the government to revive sponsorship for graduate students, arguing that this will transition Makerere into a research-intensive University pivotal to Uganda’s development needs.

Nawangwe made the appeal on Wednesday during the Inaugural Makerere University Agricultural week organized by Students from the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at Makerere University, on which President Museveni was chief Guest.

The event, which featured several on-going student innovations in the fields of agro-processing was intended to showcase inroads made by the institution into agricultural research. Addressing the President, Nawangwe noted:

“We (Makerere) are transiting into a more research-intensive University and that means; we need to increase the ratio of graduate students. We would like to request that the government considers reviving sponsorship for graduate students.”

In the financial year 2019/2020, Government earmarked Shs.30 billion towards supporting research at Makerere University. While Nawangwe acknowledged the importance of the financial support, he argued that more impact would be made if graduate students doing Masters and PhD programs can also receive scholarship from government.

The Vice-Chancellor noted that government sponsorship for graduate students was stopped in the early ’80s and called upon the government to revive it, arguing that “all studies show that the modern economy depends on a critical mass of graduate cadres.”

Presently, Government only sponsors 4000 students annually to pursue undergraduate studies at public universities. Since 2014, it has also set up a student loan scheme, in which financially handicapped students unable to qualify for government sponsorship can apply for study loans to be repaid after school. Nawangwe says the same arrangement should be provided for graduate students.

Speaking after Nawangwe, Makerere University Council Chair Ms. Lorna Magara paid tribute to the innovating students, saying they were helping safeguard the University’s reputation as a center for research and innovation. “We have gathered today to witness the contribution of our scholars towards agricultural development. The exhibition is a demonstration of Makerere University’s commitment to the transformation of the agricultural sector through homegrown ideas and innovation,” she said

She pledged the University Councils’ commitment towards building an enabling environment for research and innovation at the University to support government efforts towards promoting food security, employment and increased export earnings through exploiting the various opportunities along the agricultural value chain.

“The strategic plan aims to transform Makerere into a research-led University, and we aim to build an ecosystem that links the national policy needs to research and innovations which should be able to guide the policies developed and ultimately the decisions taken at different levels of governance in the nation,” Ms Lorna Magara added

The University gifted the president with100kgs of the latest improved varieties of Mak-soybeans, which are the product of over 20 years’ investment in Soybean research at the Makerere University Agricultural Research Institute in Kabanyolo, Gayaza.

On his part, President Museveni applauded the Vice-Chancellor for “reorienting Makerere” to create order at the University, arguing that it was an orderly environment that was enabling these breakthroughs in research.

“This man from this remote place has added value to Makerere University, in the right direction, by telling you to concentrate on teaching and on research, not strikes and useless activities. I’m really very excited; I congratulate the professors for coming to reality to make training here a producer of what is needed,” he said.

The president also said he agreed with the vice chancellor’s proposal to recast funding to sponsor postgraduate students “especially those making research in sciences,” but stopped short of making any specific commitments on behalf of government.

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From George Maponga in Masvingo: Government has registered over 240 fishing cooperatives here as it seeks to leverage on the province’s high dam density to improve household disposable incomes and grow the economy in line with President Mnangagwa’s vision to make Zimbabwe an upper-middle income economy by 2030.

Registration of the cooperatives is being done by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development, which also offers training to members on how to efficiently run them.

The majority of the cooperatives were from Chivi and Masvingo districts, which have the highest number of dams in the province.

Most of the beneficiaries were women and youths, with a large percentage of the cooperatives eyeing the potentially lucrative fishing operations at Tugwi-Mukosi, which is the country’s largest inland dam.

Provincial development officer in the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Mr Joseph Mupinga said the registration of fishing cooperatives after training of members was aimed at boosting nutrition in rural communities while boosting their household incomes.

“We have so far registered north of 240 fishing cooperatives after training members on how to run cooperatives and the cooperatives are mostly concentrated in Chivi and Masvingo districts, with other districts such as Chiredzi and Gutu having a small share.”

“Most of the fishing cooperatives will be operating at Tugwi-Mukosi Dam in Chivi, and these cooperatives will undoubtedly boost food and nutrition security at house and community levels, and reduce poverty through opening avenues for improved income generation,” he said.

Mr Mupinga said fishing had the potential to transform lives of the rural populace across Masvingo, which has more than seven big dams.

The birth of fishing cooperatives was also a boon for employment creation, especially among youths as the ventures had potential to expand into big business, whose success will have positive spin-offs on the national economy.

Tugwi-Mukosi is the flagship of the commercial fishing ventures in Masvingo, with the dam being the nerve centre of Government’s Command Fisheries programme.

More than 200 000 fingerlings (young fish) were three years ago stocked in the dam for breeding purposes under Command Fisheries, with the exercise expected to be replicated in other dams dotted around Masvingo. (Source/ The Herald)

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