Indian Agricultural Delegation in Uganda to Explore Agro-Industry Investments

A 30-member delegation comprising Indian firms in the Agricultural Sector, India’s Premier Institutes in Agricultural Research and Allied Industries like the Indian council of Agriculture Research (ICAR), the National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) and the Indian Institute of Millet Research (IIMR), among others, jetted into Uganda on Monday, April 8.  

The delegation is led by Dammu Ravi, Economic Secretary (Permanent Secretary in charge of Economic Relations) at the Ministry of External Relations of India. They were received by senior officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including Uganda’s High Commissioner to India, Dr. Joyce Kikafunda.

The delegation is on a two-day tour of Uganda intended to take advantage of the excellent investment climate in Agro-industry. This visit also comes on the heels of a visit by Suja K. Menon, the Joint Secretary/Director General for the Ministry of External Affairs of India which took place from February 28-29, 2024. This visit is a follow-up to the meeting that discussed financing of the Agricultural Sector, particularly in the area of solar Irrigation systems and Transmission in the area of Energy/Power.   

The agricultural sector plays a central role in Uganda’s economy, generating some 24 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and accounting for more than half of the country’s export earnings (54%; World Bank, 2019).

Almost 70 percent of the working population is engaged in agriculture which also provides the first job for three-quarters of those aged between 15 and 24 years. 78% of the Ugandan population lives in “rural” areas where farming is the predominant economic activity (UBoS, 2016). At the same time, agro-processing is the backbone of the manufacturing sector accounting for approximately 60 percent of its total output.