The managing director of Victoria Seeds Limited, Josephine Okot, has implored government to invest in research and development to enable innovative products that are adopted to the changing climate.
She said for the country to have the kind of seeds that can drive food security, they have to be of right variety and resilient to emerging climate challenges including pests.
"As the president clearly stated, food security is part of the real economy and for Uganda to be food secure, we need a robust seed sector that can provide enough seeds for all the farmers and even industrial production,"she said.
She made the remarks during the a two day e-conference on the transformation of Uganda's real economy amidst Covid-19.
Okot said although the country depends on the National Agricultural Research Organisation for research and innovation, there are multinational companies operating in the same market that come with their seed varieties.
"If there is no policy that tries to differentiate between the challenges of the two categories, sometime there is a mismatch because a global seed company can afford all it's research bill but small company in Uganda can't invest in that research,"she said.
She noted there is need for government input in research to enable innovative products.
"For us to have the seeds that drive industrialization, there has to be a huge investment in research. With climate change, it is hard for farmers to manage without support,"she said.
She said at the continental level, research institutions are also being reformed because they used to depend on donors which is no longer possible.
The executive director of Uganda Development Corporation(UDC) ,Dr Patrick Birungi said innovators must find solutions to problems.
"We have a huge challenge because it is has taken Covid-19 to wake us up about the need for certain services. We didn't have to wait for the pandemic to tell us that we need certain services, that is the role of research,"he said.
He noted that donor driven research should be minimised because they also come with their own interests.
