Posted on August, 21, 2019 at 11:02 am
BY SAMUEL NABWIISO
Young Farmers Federation of Uganda has launched youth-friendly programme that will see beginning farmers from Uganda travel to Germany to learn good agricultural practices.
The young Farmers International Exchange programme will see 10 younger farmers travelling. This program is a partnership between the Scorlermer Foundation of the Germany Farmers Association and being sponsored by the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Addressing the media at the Uganda National Farmers Federation (UNFFE) head offices in Kampala last week, Humphrey Mutasa, the head of partnership at the federation, said the programme will equip Ugandan young farmers with basic agriculture practices that are key in the transformation of the sector.
“We want our young farmers to get exposed to modern ways of doing agriculture; majority are not exposed to the basic skills and this has hindered many to engage in the sector yet there are many opportunities for the young generation in the sector,” Mutasa said.
The Young Farmers International Exchange programme is an Exchange program that will also see 10 Younger farmers from Germany coming to Uganda and hosted on various farms to learn tropical agriculture. This is being spearheaded by the Younger Farmers Federation of Uganda (YNFA) which as an affiliate body of UNFFE.
The programme will enable Ugandan young farmers to share experiences with the host farms in Germany, alongside Acquiring Knowledge in Agriculture through hands on Experience.
Denis Kabito the National Coordinator and also the Chief Executive officer of Uganda National Young Farmers Association said their focusing on key sectors in the agriculture sector where farmers can exploit the opportunities.
“This programme is looking at capacity Building for the Young farmers who are engaging in Mixed farming on average sized family farms here we are targeting the subsectors of beef piggery alongside Horticulture Viticulture we hope that after the three months the younger farmers will spent in Germany it will change their mindsets towards the sector,” he explained.
Who is Eligible for the programme?
Kabito explained that the farmers must be between 20 -30 years, and must have sufficient theoretical knowledge and practical work experience of about 6 months in the required field of training among.
Applicants must be Ugandan citizens possessing Ugandan passports and ready to pay 50 Euros as application fee and be willing to return back to Uganda after the 3months training period in Germany.
The Young Farmers International Exchange Programme is expected to commence in mid-October 2019 to Mid-January 2020.
All the expenses for the selected 10 to participate in the programme will be paid by the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Source: Business Week