Empowering youth to build sustainable livelihoods

Ramathan, 28, used to be a tobacco farmer, as his father was before him. Today however, tobacco is not as profitable as it used to be due to high production costs.

“When you subtract the expenses from what you earn, it means you’re working for nothing,” he says, walking through part of his new farming interest — a tomato garden.

A father of five, Ramathan’s farm is in the rolling fields of Cheku village in Koboko District, northwest Uganda.

In June 2023, Ramathan participated in the transformational Youth Skilling for Horticulture training project, conducted by the nonprofit organization, Associazione Centro Aiuti Volontari at the Government of Uganda’s Jabara Agricultural and Vocational Institute.

Supported by the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Mastercard Foundation, the training allowed Ramathan to learn essential skills, including nursery bed management, pest control, watering techniques, post-harvest handling, marketing, and financial literacy.

On completion of the training, he received the necessary tools to begin his horticulture business — 50 grams of watermelon seed, a spray pump, and gumboots.

The profits from his first crop of watermelons enabled Ramathan to diversify further into agriculture. He now invests in goats, a new variety of tomato seeds known for higher yields and has even ventured into beekeeping and passion fruit cultivation.

“It’s much easier growing tomatoes and passion fruit,” he says.

Ramathan is also a community advisor — sharing knowledge and helping his neighbours to replicate his success. In the future, he dreams of building an iron-roofed house and ensuring his children get an education.”

In 2022, WFP and the Mastercard Foundation embarked on a five-year program to strengthen food systems to promote increased value chain employment opportunities for young people in eight countries across Africa. The collaboration aims to strengthen local agri-food systems and make them more efficient, sustainable, and inclusive for young people, in particular young women.