By Kobusiinge Monica
At the 3rd Pan-African Pyramid Global Awards held last Saturday at Fairway Hotel, where South Africa’s late Mama Winnie Madikizela Mandela and Maj.Gen.(Rtd) Prof.Lekoa Solly Mollo won Revolutionary leader and Freedom Fighter Awards respectively for their selfless contributions against apartheid era in South Africa, Ministry of Agriculture’s Dr.Patience Bibohere Rwamigisa was among the new crop of determined Pan-Africanists that was recognized for his exemplary tremendous sacrifice due to his quest to revolutionize the Agricultural sector. Among other sacrifces, Dr.Patience left his well-paying job at Makerere University, applied for a school fees loan which he never knew how he would pay back and went back to school to serve his dream. Read full profile bellow.
Why Dr.Patience Rwamigisa won PAP Global “African Renaissance” Award:
It takes conviction, commitment and passion to realize that it’s only you, not other, that must begin from wherever you’re to cause the change you want to see in your surroundings.
Have you ever imagined of what could have been going on in the modular oblongata of a man of who left his well-paying job and decided to take up a Bank loan which he had no idea on how he would pay back the loan, went back to school to solve a national problem? That’s the epitome of Pan-Africanism, patriotism and nationalism values and spirit.
Dr.Patience Bibohere Rwamigisa, left his job at the School of Veterinary Medicine, Makerere University where he was an adjunct lecturer of Biomedical Laboratory Technology for 10 yrs, from 1998-2008 and went back to school with a conviction that when he returns, he would significantly impact on the future of the Agricultural sector, since Agriculture is the backbone of not only Uganda but Africa atlarge. In that way, he believed, he would have contributed significantly for the wellbeing of Africa.
Dr.Patience dedicated his PhD degree in Agricultural Extension/Education at Makerere University and is now a PhD graduate of a 2013 class. He shifted his concentration from zoology and entomology in which he had previously graduated in 1993 and 1997 respectively to focus on Agriculture.
He completed a thesis titled “The Political and Institutional Dimension of Agricultural Extension Reform in Uganda: Experiences of the National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) in February 2013.
His first causality after his PhD programe was the NAADS programe that was phased out upon the release of his research paper whose recommendations the president adopted in totality.
Patience is the current Commissioner in-charge of Agricultural Extension and Skills Management in the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries.
Among others; Rwamigisa has played a key role in the formulation of a national strategy for youth engagement in Agriculture and other policies that have streamlined the sector.
He has so far written and presented the following papers both locally and Internationally in defendense of his Pan-African ideals;
- “The Political and Institutional Dimension of Agricultural Extension Reform in Uganda: Experiences of the National Agricultural Advisory Services. (Feb 2013)
- “How to Promote Institutional Reforms in the Agricultural Sector, A case Study of the National Agricultural Advisory Services in Uganda” to the International conference on Political Economy of Agricultural Policy in Africa held in Pretoria March 2013; and the International Conference of Agricultural Economics in Milan, Italy in August 2014. The paper was published in the Journal of Development Policy Review, 2017.
- Contributed to a Book Chapter titled “When the Solution Became a Problem”: The Politics of Knowledge in Agricultural Research”. The Book published in 2017 and is available on amazon.com.
- Presented a paper titled “A Key Challenge of Reforming the National Agricultural Extension Systems in Africa: The case of Uganda’s Policy Reform process 1996 – 2011) to the International Conference of Agricultural Extension and Innovations held in Nairobi, Kenya from 15th to 19th November 2011.
- Presented a paper on Agricultural extension reforms in Africa: The Case of National Agricultural Advisory Services in Uganda at University of Hohenheim, German, August 2012.
- Agricultural Policy Development in Uganda from Colonial times to date: Implications for the future. Unpublished paper presented to Department of Agricultural Extension and Innovation Studies, Makerere University, Kampala. March 2004
- Reform of Agricultural Extension Services in Africa: Lessons from Uganda. A paper presented at the Democratic Republic of Congo national conference on reform of agricultural extension.
- The Need for a National Agricultural Policy: A concept paper for Policy makers and Development planners presented to Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, Entebbe, Uganda. April 2004
- Integration of the Tick Decoy Technology into the National Livestock Disease Control strategy in Uganda: A concept paper presented to the Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries. July 2004
- A critical Analysis of the Plan for Modernization of Agriculture in Uganda. Unpublished paper December 2000, among others.
Rwamigisa was selected by German Development Institute as one of African Scholars to participate in the G20 think tank on the Marshal Plan for African transformation in Johannesburg, South Africa in February 2017.
He was the lead Technical Person in implementation of a World Bank supported Environmental Management and Capacity Building Project for Northern Uganda through the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA),(2005 – 2007).
Lead Person in the design of Technical and Financial proposal to establish a Centre for Innovation Research in Basic and Applied Sciences at Makerere University,under the Millennium Development goals for Science and Technology Development (2004).
He designed a technical and financial proposal on Institutionalization of Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health into Vocational Training in Uganda, a project that was funded by Melinda Gates Foundation through the African Youth Alliance Project (2003).
He was lead resource person in the establishment of the Uganda National Apiculture Development Organization (TUNADO) mandated to coordinate Bee-keeping activities in Uganda and designed a five year strategic plan for the Apiculture Industry.
In 1995, Rwamigisa became Winner of the Ninth Social Science research competition organized by the Organization of Social Science Research for Eastern and Southern Africa.
He was also awarded as Principal Investigator, Uganda Chapter for research Project on Participatory Agricultural Policy Processes in Africa, implemented in Ghana, Senegal and Uganda with Universities of Kiel and Hohenheim 2011 to 2013.
He is a member of Nature Uganda, a nature conservation organization in Uganda and board member for Uganda Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services.
Ladies and gentles, allow me present this year’s African renaissance Award to Dr.Patience Bibohere Rwamigisa….
