Parliament Summons Ministers Over ‘Poor’ Dairy Sector

RWANDA - Parliament will summon heads of two ministries to explain poor practices leading to low milk production, and transportation and processing difficulties.
calendar icon 16 February 2017
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Officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI) and that of Trade, Industry and EAC Affairs (MINEACOM) will have to appear in Parliament to explain the dairy sector’s poor performance.

The plenary was convened on Tuesday to hear and discuss a report from the Standing Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Environment. The report assessed the progress of the cattle stocking programme, Girinka, among others.

Speaker Donatille Mukabalisa said Parliament will summon heads of the two ministries.

Lawmakers visited the programme operations in every district of the country last year in October and early November. They identified inefficiencies in the milk supply chain, including low milk production, transport bottlenecks due to poor roads and challenges in milk trading and processing.

In September 2016, about 5,241 cows were given out.

However, several irregularities were reported, including bribery, and sale and giving of cows to ineligible people. Almost 50 per cent — 2,437 cows — were recovered, according to the Rwanda Agriculture Board.

An investigation is underway to reclaim the remaining animals.

Source: The New Times

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