By Prossy Nandudu
As more youth leave Uganda for greener pastures, parents have been asked to support youth-led agriculture enterprises that will create jobs.
The call was made by the chief of party of the Skilling in Agripreneurship for Enhanced Youth Employment Project (SAY) project at AVSI Foundation, Moses Cik.
He was officiating at the closure of the 9th Gayaza High School farm camp on Tuesday.
The SAY project is funded by the Embassy of the Netherlands.
High influx
According to Cik, 74,000 youth leave the country every day in search of greener pastures.
He said the situation has been made worse by the growing number of graduates that leave university, which stands at 25,000 graduates every year, of which only 9,000 get jobs.
Cik said through agriculture, more jobs will be created as exhibited by various innovations by students at the end of the five-day school farm camp.
“Through student exhibitions, we have seen many ideas that can be turned into profitable enterprises. Parents should support youth to turn such ideas into reality, so that students earn as they grow,” Cik said.
“AVSI Foundation has supported agriculture to unlock opportunities for young people since 2013. Our aim is to encourage young people to consider agriculture as a pathway to a bright future for them,” he explained.
Dr Michael Katurebe, the country director for Norbrook, a veterinary pharmaceutical company, attributed the lack of interest in agriculture to the past, where it was used as a punishment in school.
Rebecca Kampumure, the deputy headteacher, said the 800 students, who attended the camp, were trained in various fields.
Innovations exhibited by students ranged from environment conservation, technologies for water harvesting and fish farming.
The camp was supported by the Food and Agriculture Organisation, Norbrook Pharmaceuticals, NUCAFE, SUMS, Movit Beauty Products, Fields of Life and Fields of Hope, among others.
Winners
Iganga Secondary School emerged the best exhibitor, walking home with a heifer, followed by Tororo Girls School. Mwiri College came third, followed by MST Junior School.
