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Young Africa Works

Project titleYoung Africa Works In Uganda; Markets For Youth

Project goalTo facilitate market systems, change in the agriculture sector to directly enable 300,000 rural young women and men to access dignified and fulfilling work over five years period across five sub-regions (Karamoja, Acholi, Lango, Mid-Western and Western) in Uganda.
The program envisions benefiting 600,000 people indirectly and through the multiplier effect of the different program interventions.

Geographic reach

Kitgum, Pader, Lamwo(Acholi Sub-region) Abim, Karenga and Kotido (Karamoja Sub-region)

Funding portfolio

UGX 3,836,545,648

Target Beneficiaries

4876 – 3413 Young women (70%), 488 refugees (10%), 244 PWDs (5%), 731 Young men (15) Age category (16-35)

Best practices

  • Duty bearers leading discussions during engagements between young people and stakeholders resulting into concrete commitments and resolutions.
  • Youth leading issue identification, analysis, packaging, voicing and influence.

Most Significant Achievements

  • Positive Mind set change among youths thus actively participating in agriculture.

  • Through community conversations and youth led research, young people have identified social norms, gender norms and other factors affecting their participation in agriculture market system. This has led to stakeholder engagement resulting into commitments and resolution of the issues.

  • Increased confidence among the youths to engage and dialogue with stakeholders at both micro, mezzo and macro level meetings.

  • Implementation of commitments by stakeholders has attracted more youth into agriculture in Acholi and Karamoja sub –regions hence, diversifying their sources of income.

  • Increase in youth voices and influence leading to access to resources including Finance, agro-inputs, skilling as well as demand for services. This has seen youth taking up leadership roles in government programs including PDM.

  • Increased spaces at household level for young women in decision making on issues that affect their families including finances, health, education for their children among others.

     

The rationale of the project

Agricultural sector is central to the employment prospects and well-being of most Ugandans: 70% of employed Ugandans work in agriculture and the sector contributes 26% to gross domestic product. It is also essential to ensuring food security and improved living standards for all Ugandans.[1]. However, the sector is underperforming compared with the rest in Uganda’s economy because it fails to attract sufficient government funding, with currently only a constant 3.2% of the national budget in financial years 2019/20 and 2020/2021.

 

An assessment of the Northern Uganda Social Action Fund (NUSAF), Youth Opportunities Programme (YOP), Youth Venture Capital Fund (YVCF), Skilling Uganda, NAADS programmes in Northern Uganda reveal limited success in addressing the key issues and concerns of the youth, largely attributed to limited participation in influencing the designs and implementation of the programmes, rendering them nonresponsive to the needs and concerns of youth.

The population of Karamoja is one of the youngest with the average age being 15 years. A half of the total 1.2 million population in Karamoja are females. Karamoja is the least socially and economically developed region with 61% of 1.2 million people living in poverty.[2] and 33% of the population aged 15+ not working.[3]Despite reducing national poverty, majority of the population in Karamoja is choking in poverty due to lack of employable skills especially among youth, limited access to markets and high dependency ratio of 141 compared to 97 nationally.[4]The Uganda Bureau of Statistics links unemployment to idleness of young people which potentially are risks for increased crime, mental health problems, violence, conflicts and drug abuse.[5].

[1] World Bank, 2017

[2] UNFPA population matters, August 2018

[3] UBOS (2016): The National Population and Housing Census Sub-County Report Northern Region

[4] Uganda National Household Survey (UNHS, 2016/17)

[5] UBOS, 2017

Northern Uganda and in particular Acholi remains precarious owing to the effects of the long conflict and influx of large numbers of refugees which increases tensions over land, financial and communal resources among districts like Lamwo and Kitgum, with Lamwo district recording 53,000 (3.8% of the total refugee population) in Palabek Kal, Palabek Gem and Palabek Ogili settlements. Refugees have limited livelihood opportunities, no access to vocational training for skills and agricultural-based income generating activities and are impeded by the shortage of land and limited income sources, with only 6% of the refugee Persons with specific needs receiving services.[1] With these background, interventions aimed changing young people’s attitudes about agriculture as a business, supporting young people to voice, influence and gain access to affordable credit, market information, quality inputs and extension services along value chains are key. This then serves as a force behind Young Africa Works; Markets for Youth evolution.

[1] Office of the Prime Minister and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees-UNHCR, July 2019