By URN
Youth unemployment, poverty, and food insecurity remain pressing challenges in Bunyoro, where many young people rely on small-scale subsistence farming, limiting opportunities for income and economic growth.
To address this, experts are urging youth to shift from traditional farming to intensive agriculture and agribusiness, seen as a pathway to prosperity and self-reliance.
Fred Byamukama, the State Minister for Transport, emphasized that the shift aims to transform farming from a low-value, manual job into a profitable venture.
“Uganda cannot achieve socio-economic transformation while most citizens remain stuck in subsistence farming,” he said.
Speaking to over 100 youth from Kikuube district who visited his demonstration farm in Kikwaya village, Kakumiro, on Tuesday, Byamukama encouraged them to adopt his four-acre model, which dedicates one acre to coffee, another to fruit trees, a third to staple crops, and the fourth to pasture for livestock.
He explained that the model also allows for poultry, piggery, and fish farming, which can quickly boost household incomes and create sustainable livelihoods.
Byamukama urged youth to become job creators through commercial agriculture rather than waiting for government jobs.
Nicholas Mwesigwa, Kikuube district NRM Youth League Chairperson, said the visit will inspire many to venture into commercial agriculture.
Sarah Ninsiima, a youth leader from Kabwoya Sub-County, said she plans to apply the skills acquired from the visit to boost household income.
Byamukama’s four-acre model farm, established in 2021, integrates poultry, piggery, zero-grazing dairy, coffee, bananas, and pineapples.
Officials and youth leaders hope that wider adoption of such models will transform Bunyoro’s agricultural landscape, create jobs, raise incomes, and improve food security.
