By Rogers Wanambwa

KIU, Main Campus – Uganda's agricultural sector will next year receive over UGX7.5bn from South Korea through the Korea Programme on International Agriculture (KOPIA).

This money will be geared towards agricultural research in the country. 

“This year (2020), KOPIA injected UGX Shs3.6bn in Agricultural research. We intend to double the capital injection up to a tune of not less than UGX7.5bn next year,” said Dr Park Taeseon, the Director of KOPIA Uganda.

Besides, according to Dr Taeseon, the COVID-19 pandemic destabilized many of their programs and research projects.

“Our ability to put in much more funds was greatly affected by COVID-19. Besides, because of COVID-19, we were unable to fly in researchers from Korea and other world countries to come here [Uganda] and provide expert knowledge,” he said during the virtual ‘Seeds of Gold’ event that transpired at the National Agricultural Research Centre (NARO) at Kawanda.

According to Dr Taeseon, the research projects will mainly focus on food crops as their main target.

“This project will take on crops like rice, cereal, and vegetable farming but in the future, it will expand to other crops like oranges, chicken, and other agricultural practices. We are partnering with several agricultural research centers, universities, and other related entities in the country,” he said. 

He also added that, “We are doing this to improve on production and quality by sharing our advanced agricultural technology with countries like Uganda, Congo, and Rwanda.”