Ministry of ICT launches digital innovations to transform agriculture

The Ministry of ICT and National Guidance in partnership with the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) has commissioned projects aimed at powering inclusive innovation in the agriculture sector.

While launching the project at Uganda Media Centre, Judith Nabakooba, the minister of ICT, said the digital solutions will deliver economic benefits and transform agriculture in the country.

“As the Ministry of ICT and National guidance, we are particularly delighted because driving the use of technology to increase productivity in agriculture, is one of the objectives of the digital transformation agenda of the National Development Plan III,” she said.

Nabakooba said digital solutions are helping to reduce the spread of the coronavirus by aiding the public health response, minimizing the need for face-to-face interactions, and helping some businesses to stay afloat.

“We have seen the increased use of technology in government operations. We are now using technology to track and register recent entrants at our borders, monitor quarantined travelers and alert them of their end of quarantine days, provide real time reporting of travelers’ status to the ministry of health, and make Covid-19 information readily available to the public,” she noted.

UNCDF is funding four Ugandan companies to develop, scale and apply tailor-made home-grown digital technologies to combat the systemic constraints in agriculture in Uganda’s rural communities

According to the Digital Country Lead at UNCDF, Chris Lukolyo, supporting local innovators in Uganda is one of the ways in which UNCDF is working to foster an inclusive digital economy that leaves no one behind.

“As the world is turning to digital solutions to address day-to-day challenges, millions of people in Uganda including smallholder farmers, women, youth and refugees are at risk of being left behind,” said Lukolyo.

By supporting Ugandan entrepreneurs to build solutions that address particular needs of vulnerable populations, Lukolyo said they foster the growth of the digital ecosystem, improve life in these communities and enable excluded groups to become more active participants in the economy.