Uganda: Empowering Orphans to Become Entrepreneurs

Kitovu Mobile has moved an extra mile in supporting the youth to become entrepreneurs. This has involved the integration of skills training with psycho social support which has enabled the youth to realize their dreams. Employing the Asset Based Development model we have facilitated them to identify and realize their potentials, identify assets within their reach and have encouraged them to turn them into opportunities for social enterprises.

Using the Asset Based Development model, training in value addition and bulk selling basing on their groups as a plat form for bargaining power is now the order of the day. The project has made tremendous work towards the development of the youth through training them in sustainable integrated Organic Farming; young people are able to meet their basic requirements and as well supporting their families with some of the basic needs. For example 50% of the target beneficiaries can meet the costs of scholastic materials for their siblings in primary and secondary schools.

Overall, there was significant improvement in terms of food security and accessibility as well as increased income levels among the household. For example during follow-up, it was found out that 90% of the trainees were implementing the taught skills, 85% access more than two meals a day while 75% of trainees had their income increased by almost 3% annually. This was a big positive change compared to the situation before the MFS interventions.

85% of the trainees has earned an income on addition to production of other seasonal and perennial crops. In 2013 alone, 38 trainees bought pieces of land, 21 built temporary houses, and 8 bought cows. Generally, the sanitation has improved in almost 90% of trainees’ households.

Under food storage - individual trainees are practicing the affordable measures like sun

drying, control of pests using crushed hot pepper, Neem tree and tobacco leaves, and storing  the produce on raised platform. They learnt the importance of stores and they are trying asmuch as possible to avoid sleeping with animals in the same house.

When you train a youth you train a nation, it’s our joy that this project is not only changing the lives of the orphans but even the community as well this alone gives us hope that the future of our nation is indeed bright. As our youths graduated last year we took it upon ourselves to follow them up and observe how they are being able to implement the knowledge and skills they acquired from the farm school. Indeed we observed that the livelihoods of our youths had been renewed including their families since they are now operating as entrepreneurs. It’s our pride as these youths have gone ahead to buy land for their families using the money they saved from their small scale farms having grown the seedlings they received from the organization, this was witnessed in the 3 homes that were visited. Surely the members of the families that were visited looked healthier than before, and the reason for this is that, these youths have managed to ensure food security at home through modern farming techniques, they have gone ahead to take their siblings back to school as well as meeting some needs at home, it is surprising that Jjuuko Gerald a P.7drop out, now owns a plot of land and has the ability to support his family. Besides these youths serving their homes, they reach out to the community by training other young farmers on how to make nursery beds and managing small scale businesses. Since these youths had acquired skills in counseling and guidance, 2 of them reported to us that they had been able to counsel some youths that had become unruly at home so this promises a violence free society hence benefitting the community indirectly.