Ministry of Trade has commissioned the first ever Rice Millers council of Uganda to foster the growth of rice sector in the country. The council is a private sector-led organization that encompasses the large and small scale millers, the large scale rice growers as well as the representatives of smallholder rice farmers across the country.
According to Ambassador Julius Oneni, the permanent secretary at the ministry of trade, among the objectives of the commissioned rice council is to promote and protect the rice trade, market and processing industry and to consider and resolve matters, issues, problems and questions connected with the trade, commerce and value addition faced by the rice sector.
The establishment of a Rice Council in Uganda is in tandem with efforts undertaken by other rice growing countries in the region and in Africa at large to create similar institutions to foster the growth of rice sector in their respective countries. These includes AfricaRice, the Eastern Africa Grain Council, the Rice Council of Tanzania, the Ghana Rice inter-Professional Body, Nigeria Rice Policy Advocacy platform.
Uganda is now therefore in a better position to interface and benefit from the extensive experiences of these countries on aspects pertaining to rice development at large.