Food science graduates to get loans
Dec 11, 2009
Ten students who recently graduated from Makerere University’s Department of Food Science and Technology have received grants worth $5,000 (about sh10m) each, to set up small-scale food processing enterprises.
By Ben Okiror
Ten students who recently graduated from Makerere University’s Department of Food Science and Technology have received grants worth $5,000 (about sh10m) each, to set up small-scale food processing enterprises.
The head of department, Prof. John Muyonga, said this is the beginning of a project in which one third of the faculty’s Food Science and Technology graduates will get capital to set up enterprises. They will also be mentored by business and food science professionals.
The first batch have received grants using funds donated by the Rockefeller Foundation. Subsequent graduates will get loans at a quarter of the market interest rates.
The Government has agreed to establish a fund, which will be administered through commercial banks.
“We want to provide initial support for people with business concepts, yet have no capital,†Muyonga said in an exclusive interview with Saturday Vision on Tuesday.
“The university has for long been teaching, doing research and outreaches to establish businesses but it is time to translate that potential to actual products.â€
This, he said, is one of the ways the university plans to become more relevant for national development.
Apart from supporting their graduates to become entrepreneurs, the department is supporting established food industries through research and mentoring. The department is also planning to set up outposts among local communities to enable them do primary processing for quality products. In addition, the department has started producing its own flagship products. The activities are run through the department’s Incubation Centre, called so because it supports young food processors to grow.
“We want to incorporate entrepreneurs’ challenges into research and students’ research into business ideas,†Muyonga said.
In order to facilitate this, the Government has already approved about sh4.5b for the Incubation Centre at the department. President Yoweri Museveni is the patron of the centre.
Ten students who recently graduated from Makerere University’s Department of Food Science and Technology have received grants worth $5,000 (about sh10m) each, to set up small-scale food processing enterprises.
The head of department, Prof. John Muyonga, said this is the beginning of a project in which one third of the faculty’s Food Science and Technology graduates will get capital to set up enterprises. They will also be mentored by business and food science professionals.
The first batch have received grants using funds donated by the Rockefeller Foundation. Subsequent graduates will get loans at a quarter of the market interest rates.
The Government has agreed to establish a fund, which will be administered through commercial banks.
“We want to provide initial support for people with business concepts, yet have no capital,†Muyonga said in an exclusive interview with Saturday Vision on Tuesday.
“The university has for long been teaching, doing research and outreaches to establish businesses but it is time to translate that potential to actual products.â€
This, he said, is one of the ways the university plans to become more relevant for national development.
Apart from supporting their graduates to become entrepreneurs, the department is supporting established food industries through research and mentoring. The department is also planning to set up outposts among local communities to enable them do primary processing for quality products. In addition, the department has started producing its own flagship products. The activities are run through the department’s Incubation Centre, called so because it supports young food processors to grow.
“We want to incorporate entrepreneurs’ challenges into research and students’ research into business ideas,†Muyonga said.
In order to facilitate this, the Government has already approved about sh4.5b for the Incubation Centre at the department. President Yoweri Museveni is the patron of the centre.