The Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries consists of MAAIF headquarters and eight ‘semi-autonomous’ agencies. MAAIF HQ consists of two commodity-based Directorates (Animal Resources and Crop Resources) each with three Departments, two stand-alone Departments (for Planning and Finance and Administration) and three other specialist units.

The agencies are NARO, NAADS, the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA), the Cotton Development Organisation (CDO), the PMA Secretariat, the Dairy Development Authority (DDA), the National Genetic Resource Information Centre and Data Bank (NAGRIC&DB), and the Coordinating Office for the Control of Trypanosomiasis in Uganda (COCTU). Each of these agencies, operating at both national and sub-national levels, is responsible for the execution of approved plans and resources in their budgets, leaving MAAIF HQ to concentrate on agricultural policy formulation, support and supervision (especially of Local Governments), sector planning, regulation, standard setting, quality assurance and sector monitoring and guidance.

This structure dates back to the 1998 post-constitutional restructuring put in place in response to the legal and policy changes that followed the enactment of the Local Governments Act (1997). In a bid to further improve the structure, and in light of changes arising from the establishment of the PMA framework, a Core Functional Analysis of MAAIF was undertaken in 2001. This made clear the sub-optimal nature of the Ministry at that time and proposed a new structure. However, this was not implemented, largely because of lack of consensus within MAAIF and other key ministries. The result is that a structure which was judged inappropriately configured in 2002 is still in place now, as MAAIF gears up to address the major challenges ahead.

Functions

The Ministry’s functions are derived from the constitution of the republic of Uganda; the Local Governments Act, (1997), and the Public Service reform Programme (PSRP). As a result of the reforms, the role of Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries  is to create an enabling environment in the Agricultural Sector by performing the following functions:

Key Functions

1. Formulate, review and implement national policies, plans, strategies, regulations and standards and enforce laws, regulations and standards along the value chain of crops, livestock and fisheries;
2. Control and manage epidemics and disasters, and support the control of sporadic and endemic diseases, pests and vectors;
3. Regulate the use of agricultural chemicals, veterinary drugs, biological, planting and stocking materials as well as other inputs;
4. Support the development of infrastructure and use of water for agricultural production along livestock, crop and fisheries value chains;
5. Establish sustainable systems to collect, process, maintain and disseminate agricultural statistics and information;
6. Support provision of planting and stocking materials and other inputs to increase production and commercialization of agriculture for food security and household income;
7. Develop public infrastructure to support production, quality / safety assurance and value-addition along the livestock, crop and fisheries commodity chains;
8. Monitor, inspect, evaluate and harmonize activities in the agricultural sector including local governments;
9. Strengthen human and institutional capacity and mobilize financial and technical resources for delivery of agricultural services;
10. Develop and promote collaborative mechanisms nationally, regionally and internationally on issues pertaining to the sector;