Gayaza High School and Iganga Senior Secondary School students are among the learners from various schools gearing up for a training session at the Harvest Money Expo. 

Training sessions are part of the programmes for the Harvest Money Expo at the Kololo Ceremonial Grounds in Kampala that starts on Friday, February 23, 2024 and ends on Sunday. This session takes place on Friday from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm. 

The students are expected to share what they learnt at their schools, practice at home and show how they have benefitted from the training to the rest of the students and youth so that they can draw some lessons. Students will pay a subsidised shillings 10,000 to enter the expo and attend the training sessions.

The Harvest Money Expo is organised by Vision Group, in partnership with the Embassy of the Netherlands in Uganda. It is sponsored by AKVO International Ltd, National Agricultural Advisory Services, Tunga Nutrition, Engineering Solutions, dfcu bank, Techno Serve, Uganda Investment Authority, Uganda Warehouse Receipt Systems, State House-Uganda, the agriculture ministry, K-ABIC and Pepsi Cola.

Minnah Ssentongo, a student at Gayaza High School, says her engagement in agriculture has made her realise that farming as a business is the way to go since every human being must eat food, fruits, and vegetables and also drink milk, among others.

“Since agriculture is the backbone of Uganda’s economy, youth should be encouraged to venture into farming as a business because one will never fail to get market for their products,” she says.

Priscilla Kalungu, a Senior Four student at Gayaza High School, says the school has a farm from which they have learnt a lot, starting from land preparation, seed selection, planting and livestock management, among others.

“At home, we had a small space at the back of our house that was idle, but when I learnt about urban farming, I interested my parents in using it to plant vegetables like tomatoes, spinach and cabbages,” she adds.

Janat Katana, the farm leader at Gayaza High School, says the school has helped students acquire hands-on skills in various sectors such as dairy, poultry, piggery, vegetables, machinery, matooke and maize.

Jennipher Peace Namwase, the deputy president of Young Future Farmers of Africa club at Iganga SSS, says from the club, members have learnt that farming can be a business that provides sustainable income to any one regardless of their level of education.

“Farming has many aspects from which one can develop business ideas, ranging from land preparation, fertiliser-making through vermicompost, growing crops, aquaponics, livestock keeping and value-addition,” she says.

Lilian Namulondo from Iganga SSS, says they manage enterprises such as layer chicken, dairy cows, banana plantation, vegetables and a bakery.

She says with the knowledge acquired, many have established projects back home and also shared it with their parents, which has increased productivity, thereby increasing household incomes.