President Museveni has met and held talks with Netherlands Ambassador to Uganda, Frederieke Quispel, at State House Entebbe, with discussions focusing on agriculture, animal feed production, fish farming and economic cooperation between Uganda and the Netherlands.
A key area of discussion was the growing demand for raw materials to support Dutch investments in Uganda's animal feed industry, including the De Heus Fish Feed Factory in Jinja.
During the meeting, President Museveni emphasized the need to increase production of key agricultural raw materials such as maize, cassava and soya to support the expanding animal feed sector.
"We shall now produce more maize and cassava," President Museveni said.
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The President revealed that he intends to convene a conference of maize growers to discuss ways of boosting production to meet increasing demand from factories producing animal feeds.
"I am going to convene a conference of maize growers," he noted.
President Museveni also observed that taxes on animal feeds produced within Uganda should be removed to support local production and attract more investment into the sector.
On environmental conservation, the President said the government is promoting fish farming as an alternative source of livelihood aimed at reducing encroachment on wetlands.
"I want you to do fish farming as a strategy to get the locals out of the wetlands. I want to get those rice growers out of the wetlands," he said.
Quispel described her posting in Uganda as the best assignment in her diplomatic career.
"This is the best job I have had in my entire career," she said.
The ambassador also conveyed congratulatory messages and best wishes from the King of the Netherlands to President Museveni, noting that the Netherlands looks forward to strengthening economic cooperation with Uganda.
She disclosed that about 60 Dutch businesses are currently operating in Uganda, making the Netherlands one of the country's largest foreign investors.
"We are your largest foreign investor and we are honored with you opening up those factories in animal feeds," she said.
Quispel, however, noted that factories involved in animal feed production are facing challenges in accessing sufficient raw materials locally and are being forced to import some products, including soya from Zambia.
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"Those factories have difficulty in finding the raw materials and are forced to import some soya from Zambia, as well as maize and cassava. We work with smallholder farmers but the supply is still not enough," she explained.
She added that Dutch investors are willing to invest in cooperatives to help increase production, noting that demand for raw materials used in animal feed manufacturing continues to grow.
"Our people are willing to invest in these cooperatives. There is a lot of demand for these raw materials for feed," she said.
The ambassador further noted that the Netherlands has drawn inspiration from Uganda's agricultural sector and expressed optimism about continued cooperation between the two countries.
