STATEMENT BY HON. MATIA KASAIJA - MINISTER OF FINANCE, PLANNING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ON THE OCCASION OF SIGNING THE AGREEMENT FOR PROMOTION OF DROUGHT RESILIENCE AND FOOD SECURITY IN THE KARAMOJA REGION

His Excellency the Ambassador of the Germany, Dr. Albrecht Konze,

The Director KfW, Ms. Cornelia Penzel,

Permanent Secretaries Present,

Ministry Officials,

The Press,

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,

1. Your Excellency, I wish to take this opportunity to welcome you all to this important ceremony of signing of the Financing Agreement for promotion of Drought resilience and Food Security in the Karamoja region

2. On behalf of the Republic of Uganda I want to extend our heartfelt gratitude for the continued beneficial and cordial bilateral cooperation between the Federal Republic of Germany and Government of Uganda, and for the support we are signing today.

3. Your Excellency, Karamoja sub-region belongs to the arid and semi-arid lands, and has increasingly been affected by climate change. Livestock production is a main pillar of the sub-region’s economy and is highly dependent on water availability. Rain fed agriculture is also practiced. However, access to clean and safe water in the region still remains a challenge with the current access falling below 60%. Therefore, there is great need to increase access to water, storage capacity and effective use of water.

4. Your Excellency, this funding worth EUR 20,000,000 (Twenty million Euros) from the Government of Germany towards this project is expected to improve the resilience of the population of Karamoja sub-region to drought events and climate change impacts. This will be achieved through investment in water storage infrastructure, improvement of livestock production services and water catchment area management. The project is furthermore expected to contribute to the National Development Plan II objective of increasing sustainable production, productivity and value creation in the main economic sectors, including agriculture.

5. I want to affirm, Your Excellency, that we shall fulfill our obligations under the Agreement. We shall ensure that the funds are properly and exclusively utilized by the Agencies for the activities earmarked. We will also ensure that the Benefiting Agencies furnish your agencies with information and data concerning the progress of the implementation of this Programme.

6. Once again, we are grateful for the continued support and look forward to continued cooperation.

FOR GOD AND MY COUNTRY.