Success stories from our Agribusiness training in Uganda

In the last two years, CINOP worked on the development of agribusiness skills training for vulnerable youth in Uganda in order to prepare young people for starting their own business in the agricultural sector. We worked together with Cordaid Uganda and four vocational training institutes: Amelo Technical Institute, Arua Technical Institute, Moyo Technical Institute, and Koboko Technical Institute. In the last six months, more than 500 young people have been trained within their communities (both host communities and refugee communities). During the six-weeks intensive course, participants worked on enhancing their practical agricultural knowledge and skills, activating an entrepreneurial mind-set, and dived into their individual strengths during a personal development trajectory. Now, it is time to showcase some personal stories from the graduates.

Waju refugee settlement starts a saving group

Koboko Technical Institute conducted follow-up visits to the communities in which the institute implemented the agribusiness training. One of the main successes they witnessed in the communities was the establishment of various saving groups. In the refugee settlement of Waju for example, a saving group of 30 members -both men and women- was formed under the leadership of Mrs. Apai Ramula. She explains that the group is formed to provide small loans to its members which can be used to purchase necessary agricultural inputs. Prior to the agribusiness training, access to finance was considered the biggest challenge of the community.

One of the group members, Mawa Denis, mentioned that “the knowledge they have acquired on the topic of financial management during the agribusiness course is helping them to run the saving group effectively”. Of course challenges still remain. The members’ savings continue to fluctuate due to the seasonal nature of the crops. Also, given their refugee status, the community only has access to relatively small pieces of land for production. Despite these challenges, the members have been able to save up to 4,850,000 Ugandan shillings as of November 5th 2022.

Next to the saving groups, the Waju community started a trading business that helps them to diversify their income. They have stored about 800 kg of beans to sell next year during the period of scarcity, when they expect the prices to be high. Ayozu Faida, another group member, mentioned that they bought cassava chips at a low cost and decided to add value to it by processing it into flour, as it can then be sold at a higher price and the members can earn a better profit.

Hamba Lilian: successful vegetable farmer

Hamba Lilian is a 24 years old woman from Uganda who participated in the agribusiness course provided by the instructors of Amelo Technical Institute in her village.

“The training given in the village centre was very good, and I learned a lot through practical exercises and demonstrations. I was especially interested in learning how to set up nursery beds, how to do pest management, and how to make organic manure.” At the end of the six-week training, Hamba set up two nursery beds of tomatoes and onions on a quarter-acre plot. After 3 months, she managed to harvest and sell tomatoes with a profit of 300,000 Ugandan shillings. From this amount, she decided to save 100,000 Ugandan shillings and spent the rest on buying inputs for the next planting season. “I now plan to expand my project on half an acre of land and grow different vegetables since I have the necessary knowledge and skills of managing horticultural projects.”

Asara Gilbert: growing business in vegetable cultivation

Having completed the agribusiness training provided by Arua Technical Institute, the young participants in the communities prepared various seedbeds and distributed the seedlings they planted. Most of them picked up very well and they now sell the produce in the local market with which they are earning an income.

Asara Gilbert, one of the trainees of Arua, started his own small business by growing different types of vegetables. He is now selling Sukuma wiki and cabbages. His most recent venture is the cultivation of sweet potatoes.

These success stories of recent graduates show the importance of quality skills training for creating self-employment opportunities in areas where the private sector does not provide enough job opportunities.

For more information about this project and agribusiness training in general, don’t hesitate to contact us!