The Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, Frank Tumwebaze has appointed Dr. Peter Beine as the Executive Director of the National Animal Genetics Resources Centre and DataBank (NAGRC&DB).
His appointment follows a recommendation of the NAGRC&DB board of directors and legal advise from the attorney General.
Tumwebaze emphasized the critical role of stock farms in the improvement of the national livestock herd and the active participation of NAGRC&DB in farmer education and transformation of the sector from subsistence farming to commercial agriculture.
“During my visit of the cattle corridor and in the East, I noted with concern the poor performance of some of our cattle breeds in the community and I have tasked the team to ensure that their outputs are for the betterment of our farmers in the community. This will be achieved through continuous farmer training sessions and community interfaces,” Tumwebaze said.
Tumwebaze tasked NAGRC&DB leadership to ensure centre farms become knowledge transfer centres to farmers and general private sector actors, reduce the animal import bill to zero, develop a licensing and regulatory framework for animal breeders which will be used to support, license and regulate private animal breeders, among others.
Beine has been the Acting Executive Director at NAGRC&DB for over one year.
He previously served as the Assistant Commissioner for Agricultural Planning and Development at the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries of Uganda.
A doctoral graduate of the University of Greenwich in the United Kingdom with a PhD in Agricultural Economics with a focus on agricultural production and productivity economics.
Beine also holds a Master’s Degree in Agriculture from the University of Pretoria in South Africa and a Bachelor’s Degree in Agriculture from Makerere University.
