Young Farmers Champions Network, Uganda

Project name: Young Farmers Champions Network

Project location: East Africa but head quartered in Uganda. 

URL Website: http://www.yofchan.org

URL Facebook or other social media channels: https://www.facebook.com/YoungFarmersChampionsNetwork/?ref=bookmarks 

Project description:

Young Farmers Champions Network (YOFCHAN) is a network of young farmers champions in East Africa working together as ambassadors and role models to shape the agriculture sector, inspire and attract fellow youth to engage into farming as a business. We promote positive images and perceptions of farming among the youth through providing real life examples to young people who may have never considered a career path in agriculture. We also develop young independent, reflective and confident thinkers who can share their story and their personal experiences while voicing their own opinions about agricultural issues in the sector. YOFCHAN equips and prepares its champions through lifetime mentorship programs, agricultural financing, market linkages and advocacy and also equips them with unique insights into all aspects of the agricultural supply chain as well as consumer attitudes and trends.

Goal and purpose of the project:

Our project goal is 'To lobby, advocate and empower young farmers with entrepreneurial skills along the agricultural value chain' with a core purpose of reducing youth unemployment in East Africa currently at 60%. For example, over 400,000 youth enter labor market annually to compete for only 90,000 formal jobs in Uganda and this is expected to triple to 48 million by 2040 and to reverse this, it is critical to create job opportunities in agriculture which is considered East Africa's back born.

Motivation of the applicant / applicant team:

My motivation towards solving the problem is associated with my story of how I became a farmer. After university, I applied for 30 jobs and secured none, in early 2013, I decided to join my parents in agriculture where most of my school fees had come from. This passion was later engineered by the challenges I found in the choice I had taken which instilled a feeling in me that the same challenges could be faced by other young farmers all over the country hence a need for us to unite against it.   

Use of prize money:

The prize money will be used to develop training manuals, equip the farmers’ agricultural inputs, post harvest tools like tarpaulins and cost effective silos to store their maize and sell when prices are favorable to them. Other costs will be spent on extension, monitoring and evaluation of the young farmers gardens to ensure success of the project.