Agriculture Positions Youths of Uganda on the Right Route to Prosperity

By Abdul Rahman Bangura-

Photo Credit: Istock

NEW AFRICA BUSINESS NEWS (NABN) Freetown, Sierra Leone- Research manifests that the growth of the private sector could increase the revenues of needy households two to four times more virtually than other industries. Employing farming to catalyze chance and improve earnings is one strategic mode to ameliorate poverty and attain gain. The public and private sectors must premiums to Uganda’s
youth, motivating them to believe husbandry is an achievable way to a successful destiny.

An instance of this type of alliance moves toward from the Learn 4 Agribusiness (L4AB) project, led by a coalition of multi-sector stakeholders comprising global development organization Heifer International, Dutch non-profit Edukans, Dokolo District local
government, and the private sector. The project intended for to enable 3,200 uneducated youth aged 18-30 years to earn decent incomes by investing in ingrowing oilseeds, including sunflowers, groundnuts, and soybeans.

These seeds offer significant financial benefits through…ingredients in both…livestock feed, positioning them as a lucrative cash crop for smallholders. From this initiative, I saw firsthand how transformative skill development, inclusive finance, and market access are to enable youth to tap into the promise of oilseed production, addressing systemic bottlenecks in the value chain to bring about lasting impact.

The young farmers were originally organized into 133 self-help groups and later formed two formal producer organizations, the Dokolo Young Oilseeds Farmers’ Cooperative and Kwera Youth Oilseed Farmers’ Multipurpose Cooperative Society Limited, creating a foundation for the youth to work together and access business services.

The project leveraged government programs to establish a 400-ton capacity storage, bulking and processing facility for the Dokolo cooperative; linked the co-ops to agriculture insurance providers to build their resilience to climate change; supplied drought resilient oilseeds and provided tractors to increase production and productivity.

The cooperatives — which now boast a cumulative membership of almost 3,800 — established market linkages and facilitated business partnerships with domestic offtakes such as Tropical Dynasty Limited, Soybean Africa Limited and Traford.

Every season, the youth-led cooperatives supply 4-8 tons of certified seed to their members to plant and, after the growing period, collect a combined total of 190 tons of harvested oilseed to sell in the commercial market. For farmers like 28-year-old Ambrose Omongi, this initiative allowed him to overcome longstanding challenges.

Before he joined the Kwera Youth Oilseed Farmers’ Cooperative, Ambrose earned very little. But, today, he is thriving — able to put food on the table for his family.

Through the purchasing process, the cooperative recovered the value of the sed loan and Ambrose earned Shs2.4 million Ugandan.

Ambrose is one of many, and an example of what’s possible when we harness the entrepreneurial spirit of Uganda’s youth through agricultural activities.

For New Africa Business News (NABN) Abdul Rahman Bangura Reports,  Africa Correspondent