Young people in Northern Uganda are being urged to treat farming as a business. The Hunger Project-Uganda held a two-day agribusiness boot camp in Gulu City, Nile Post reported. The training focused on value addition, processing, packaging and marketing, not just growing crops.
The boot camp is part of the organisation's two-year Youth Agriculture Entrepreneurship Programme (YAEP). It targets people aged 18 to 35, especially unemployed youth and those who struggle to get land. The aim is to help them turn cassava, maize and sorghum into profitable ventures.
Evelyn Namubiru Tondo, head of programmes at The Hunger Project-Uganda, said the programme aims to change how young people see agriculture. "We want young people to see agriculture as a business, not punishment," she told Nile Post. She said young people should look at the whole value chain, including financial management.
Denis Mukomasi, the programme's focal person in Nwoya District, said participants are being linked to government institutions and private companies. The goal is to help them formalise their businesses. He said some youth groups had received seed capital as a reward for good performance.
Tadeo Acuna of Young Professionals for Agricultural Development urged participants to use technology and digital marketing. He suggested TikTok, Facebook and WhatsApp as affordable ways to reach customers. "If you are good at speaking, use that to market your products online," he said.
In Nwoya District, the local government has linked some farmer groups to Bukona Agro Processors Limited. The company is expected to buy their cassava, sorghum and maize. The arrangement targets a key problem for smallholder farmers: limited access to reliable markets.
On the second day, participants visited two youth-led businesses in Gulu City. House Ojok makes chilli-based products, while Hands of Women works with local farmers on processing. Walter Ojok urged patience and continuous learning. Hands of Women founder Jennifer Anena told participants not to give up on their dreams.