FCC Uganda Update 2: Youth Entrepreneurs are growing their Start-Ups
It’s been 7 months since we launched our first Futureproof Coffee Collective Uganda training in Mubende (you can read about it here). Since then, the 32 participants (12 Lead farmers, 20 Youth) from Mubende’s Kitenga and Kanseera Cooperatives have been busily implementing the knowledge they obtained during Ruben Borges’ 5-day RockinSoil workshops, gradually replacing the use of chemical agricultural inputs with organic alternatives.
Something’s Buzzing on Brand Coffee Farm
In September, 11 eager youth entrepreneurs (2 male, 9 female) and Brand Coffee Farm employees returned to Brand, for the second round of training. This time we left our shovels of cow dung and fresh forest-scouted fungi at home, and dove instead into the sweet, sweet world of honey.
Over a three-day intensive training (14th – 16th Sept), Kampala-based company Malaika Honey introduced our participants to all things “bee”. The first two days were spent in our Brand Farm ‘classroom’, covering topics such as:
- What is a “beehive”, a “colony” and what types of bees fulfil what functions within this colony?
- What gear and equipment to use when you approach a beehive?
- What is an “apery”, and how do you get your first bee colony to move in?
- What type of benefits can beekeeping have, and how do/can these translate into increased income and improved crop yield for the whole community?
On the third and final day, things got practical, as our participants learnt how to use a smoker, practised setting up their own beehives and apiaries with the limited resources available, and how to place catcher boxes.
However, at this point, the 5 catcher boxes and 20 beehives distributed throughout the farm remained empty. The bee colonies first have to move into their new homes, but an extended rainy season has been delaying their arrivals. Only once the first colonies settle into the catcher boxes on Brand Farm, Malaika Honey and the participants will be called to return to the demonstration plot, to help move the bees into their new hive homes.
Having completed the entire training process, the participating youth entrepreneur will then begin to distribute a further 20 hives on farms of willing participators in Kitenga and Kanseera cooperatives. This will happen in March, alongside our third FCC Uganda training, in mushroom production.
Starting up the Start-Ups
The mission to incentivise youth to remain and invest in the agricultural sector in Mubende is a cornerstone of the FCC Uganda project and one that relies heavily on the success of the Youth Start-Ups.
Since their inception in June 2023, the groups of young entrepreneurs have been working hard with our local partner and project support, Alex K, to professionalise and grow their businesses. The initial two groups, named after Kitenga and Kanseera Cooperative respectively, designed their business models around the production, sale and application of organic agricultural inputs.
The recipes, taken from May’s RockinSoil training and adapted to locally available resources, have enabled the groups to produce high-quality compost and fertilisers at a fraction of the cost of their chemical competitors. However, a product needs a market and a stable financial framework to be sustainable.
In November 2023 our FCC Uganda Youth Enterprises successfully registered as a Community-Based Organisation (CBO), granting them access to their own bank account and banking services. A few weeks later, at the start of December 2023, a selection of our youth joined Alex K at the NOGAMU Organic Convention in Kampala, where they launched their products to the public for the first time.
Sneak peak 2024:
January
Jim (Brand Coffee Farm) visit Brand Farm to check-in with Youth Entrepreneurs.
March
- Malaika Honey Training and Beehive Distribution amongst Cooperative Members
- 3rd FCC Uganda training: Mushroom Cultivation
May
- RockinSoil Meet-up and knowledge exchange with representatives from all FCC Uganda project regions (Mubende, Zombo and Ankole) and Ruben Borge, on Brand Farm.
- Start roll-out of agroforestry vegetation to Kitanga and Kanseera Farmers
For regular updates and news relating to the Futureproof Coffee Collective Uganda project and upcoming training, follow The Coffee Quest MVO Nederlands on Linkedin and Instagram.
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