Written by Alfred Ochwo
US Ambassador to Uganda Deborah Malac has encouraged the youth and women in Northern Uganda to participate actively in the economic growth of the country as opposed to sitting and waiting for government to help them.
“Growth will not just happen if you just sit there and wait for it to happen, or if you wait for the government to do something. It is all about personal commitment, energy and using the right networks appropriately to create opportunities for yourself,” she said.
Malac made the remarks during the Breaking the Mold; Unlocking Your Potential summit organized by Feed the Future Uganda Youth Leadership Agriculture Activity at Bomah hotel, Gulu.
“To become a successful entrepreneur, some of the critical steps to take include setting goals, having a plan to achieve those goals and building a support team,” she added.
Agriculture is a key economic driver in the country, with it being a source of livelihood for more than two-thirds of the population.
“Subsistence agriculture won’t take us far and thus we need to restructure and reframe the way we look at this. We should now be thinking of how to create discussions over agriculture as a business because it does not necessarily mean digging or planting the fields,” Malac advised Ricky Rapa Thomson, the director of Safe Boda, said: “Government talks about agriculture as a driver for growth and it has very smart theories of engaging the youth into it but to the contrary, youth and agriculture take a very small fraction of the budget while priorities are served to security and infrastructure.”
“Each day is an opportunity for young people to come together and share their experiences, inspirations and network because failure is not the end, instead it is an opportunity to grow leading to even greater success,” said Kelly Cronen, the chief of party of Chemonics International.
The summit that brought together more than 200 youths from across northern Uganda was meant to create a safe space that offers peer-to-peer support and inspiration for female and male entrepreneurs in the agriculture sector.
The goal is to increase economic opportunities for approximately 350,000 Ugandan youths in agricultural-related fields in order for them to be able to increase their incomes.
