Denmark to boost Uganda’s agriculture sector

The Denmark government has announced plans to boost Uganda’s agriculture sector. Mr Nicolaj A. Hejberg, the Danish ambassador to Uganda made the announcement and said the country has promised to work with local farmers to boost agriculture in Uganda given the countries’ continued trade.

According to data from the United Nations Comtrade database on international trade, the country’s biggest exports to Denmark last year were oil seed, oleagic, fruits, grain, seeds, coffee, tea, mate and spices, fish, crustaceans, molluscs and aquatic invertebrates.

“Our goal is to promote increased trade between Uganda and Denmark especially in agricultural value chain where Danish companies sign partnership agreements with local companies to improve production and quality,” said Mr Hejberg.

Trade between Uganda and Denmark

The Ambassador said the Danish companies partnering with local ones come with state of art modern equipment that will greatly improve production. He pledged his government’s support in availing information to potential Danish investors about Uganda so that trade between the two countries grows stronger.

He added that trade between Uganda and Denmark is growing despite the slowdown of global business and investments caused by the outbreak of Covid-19.  Uganda’s exports to Denmark was worth $978,000 (Shs3,4b) in 2020, according to the United Nations Comtrade database on international trade. Uganda imported agricultural or poultry-keeping machinery from Denmark, worth $12,000 (Shs42.3b) in 2020.

Mr Tom Mugenga, the director of Rosebud flowers, said Denmark has a very long and strong agriculture tradition making them one of the leading countries in the world with modern agricultural production so partnering with them will boost local companies.

“There are so many opportunities that this country offers in terms of its agriculture production so the Danish with their modern technology will greatly change us from subsistence agriculture production to modern one,” he said.