WAKISO, Uganda, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Uganda on Friday launched the third phase of an agriculture cooperation project with China and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.

Uganda, China and FAO have an agreement under the South-to-South Cooperation Program through which China sends agriculture experts and technicians to Uganda to share knowledge and skills with smallholder farmers to boost production and household incomes.

Ugandan Vice President Jessica Alupo, while launching the three-year project in Wakiso District in the Central Region, said the third phase seeks to ensure food and nutrition security, reduce multi-dimensional poverty and develop agriculture in the country.

Alupo said China has, over the years, been demonstrating genuine friendship through significant contributions to the country's transformation in various fields, urging farmers to make use of the Chinese experts for knowledge and skills transfer as well as increase investment in agro-production and processing as a catalyst for household transformation.

"Through agriculture, we shall be able to catalytically trigger the desired economic recovery and contribute to the sustained social economic transformation of our country," the vice president said.

Priya Gujadhur, deputy representative of FAO in Uganda, said phase three will reach over 10,000 small-scale farmers across the country. The first two phases, which were implemented from 2012 to 2014 and from 2016 to 2018, respectively, benefited over 10,000 small-scale farmers, Gujadhur said.

Chinese Ambassador to Uganda Zhang Lizhong said in the initial two phases, 47 Chinese experts and technicians have been deployed in Uganda over a two-year period and helped to improve technologies used to produce cereals and livestock reproduction.

Uganda government figures showed that in the first two phases, there was a four-fold increase in rice production per hectare; in other areas, daily milk production increased from two liters to seven liters per indigenous cow. There has also been the production of high-quality and low-cost fish feed techniques, improved technologies of foxtail millet, maize, grapes, apples and cherry tomatoes, and animal reproduction, including goats, pigs and sheep.

Peter Muyimbo, the coordinator of the third phase on the Ugandan side, said the third phase, which will focus on increasing agriculture production and household income, will build on the successes of the first two phases.

Figures from the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries showed that over 70 percent of the country's population derives its livelihood from agriculture. - Xinhua

Nairobi, January 20, 2023 – Burundian authorities must not contest the appeal of journalist Floriane Irangabiye and ensure that members of the press are not imprisoned for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday.

On January 2, the Mukaza High Court in Bujumbura, the capital, convicted Irangabiye of undermining the integrity of the national territory, according to news reports, tweets by Burundi’s Ministry of Justice, and the judgment, which was made public on January 3 and which CPJ reviewed. The charge stemmed from her work as a commentator and host on Radio Igicaniro, a diaspora-based online outlet that airs critical commentary and debate on Burundian politics and culture.

The court sentenced Irangabiye to 10 years imprisonment and fined her 1 million Burundian francs (US$482), according to those sources. Her defense lawyers say she plans to appeal the conviction, according to news reports. 

Irangabiye has been in custody since her arrest on August 30, 2022, and is being held at Muyinga Prison in the northern province of Muyinga.

“After months of arbitrary detention, Burundian journalist Floriane Irangabiye’s sentencing to a decade behind bars demonstrates the state’s capacity for cruelty and its deep intolerance for politically critical commentators,” said Muthoki Mumo, CPJ’s sub-Saharan Africa representative. “Prosecutors should not object to the appeal by Irangabiye’s defense team, and Burundi should amend its laws to address vague provisions that can be used to target critical journalists.”

During the trial, prosecutors cited an August 2022 Radio Igicaniro program in which Irangabiye and guests criticized Burundi’s government and accused its leaders of being thieves and trampling on citizens’ rights, according to court documents reviewed by CPJ.

Prosecutors, who said that an audio recording of the program was found on Irangabiye’s phone after her arrest, accused the journalist of calling for public rebellion and the overthrow of the government, according to those documents.

As part of their evidence, prosecutors cited Irangabiye’s frequent travel between Rwanda, where she lives, and Burundi, where she was born and her family lives, as well as photos in which the journalist appeared with Rwandan President Paul Kagame and former Burundian President Pierre Buyoya, according to those sources. In 2020, Buyoya, was convicted in absentia of the murder of another Burundian president.

Prosecutors also accused Irangabiye of participating in meetings organized by civil society groups to empower young men in exile to overthrow the Burundian government.

Irangabiye and her defense team asserted that she had the freedom to express herself as a journalist, denied that she had participated in any of those meetings, and asked the court to disregard the information gained from interrogations carried out by intelligence officials as Irangabiye was without legal counsel, according to the court documents, which said the court dismissed that request.

Sylvestre Nyandwi, Burundi’s prosecutor general, sent CPJ a statement via messaging app saying that Irangabiye’s case complied with Burundian procedures and laws and that the conviction was not politically motivated.

CPJ emailed the Ministry of Justice and sent requests for comment via messaging app to Justice Minister Domine Banyankimbona but did not immediately receive any replies. - Committee to Protect Journalists

HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani met on Thursday with Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs of Kenya Dr Alfred Mutua, who is currently visiting the country. Bilateral co-operation relations between the two countries and means of strengthening them were reviewed during the meeting, in addition to discussing a number of issues of joint interest. - Gulf Times

(QNA)