The 3rd edition of AYuTe Challenge Awards, organized by Heifer International Uganda, concluded yesterday 19th,Sept 2024 with winners receiving a total of UGX 112 million.
During the awards ceremony, youths were encouraged to leverage technology to drive agricultural innovations and transform the sector.
Ronald Ssegawa Gyagenda, the undersecretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries urged stakeholders in the agricultural sector to attract young people, noting that they make up the largest percentage of the country’s population.
“We need to attract the youth in agriculture because the youth are the majority, they are energetic, they are creative, they don’t have employment, and yet there is a lot of opportunity of employment in agriculture. So let us attract them, but we must identify that part of the value chain in agriculture, where they fit in the current model.” He said.
Ssegawa emphasized that the key to attracting young people to agriculture is by commercializing the sector. He stated that we must transition from subsistence agriculture to commercial agriculture.
“We must help Ugandans to progress from substantive agriculture to commercial agriculture. That’s agriculture for business agriculture, as I said, where a farmer puts one shilling in the garden and gets one shilling plus.” He added.
He praised Heifer International for its efforts in promoting the agricultural sector and commended the young innovators for their transformative innovations. On behalf of the ministry, he vowed to support them.
“So I want to thank these young men and ladies, and I want to promise that as ministry and government, we are not going to stop here. We are going to look for them, bring them together, understand better their concept, and help them to move these concepts from where they are to now commercialize them.” He added.
On his part, Mr. William Matovu, Country Director of Heifer International, noted that the AYuTe Challenge was initiated in 2021 to harness the innovative ideas of young people to address challenges in agri-tech.
Matovu emphasized that the agricultural sector must engage young people to create job opportunities, preventing them from seeking work in Middle Eastern countries. He highlighted Uganda’s vast arable land and the significant financial losses incurred from importing vegetable oil.
“Uganda is spending close to about USD 50 million every year to import vegetable oil. So that’s lost opportunity, we’re losing jobs, and yet we have in young people in their jobs going to the Middle East to do all the jobs.” He said.
Matovu noted the importance of combining agriculture with the innovative ideas of young people, highlighting progress since the initiative began in 2021, during which they have identified 500 innovations.
He congratulated the winners and encouraged other youths to engage in agri-tech, stating that such innovations will improve farming efficiency and create new opportunities for many.
Matovu expressed his admiration for the increasing number of women involved in agricultural innovations, noting that their participation and contributions of new ideas will transform the sector.
“What was interesting for me this year round is to see more young, innovative women participating. In fact, the top three winners, all of them were women.” He added.
The AYuTe Challenge Awards coincided with Heifer’s 80th anniversary. Out of 261 submissions, 19 finalists were selected, and 83 were women.
Prof. Buyinza Mukadasi, the Acting Vice Chancellor of Makerere University, praised Heifer International and pledged to continue collaborative research efforts that inform policy and build capacity in sustainable agriculture.
Assumpta Nakalema won the grand prize of UGX 50 million at this year’s AYuTe Challenge Awards for her innovative Solar Egg Incubator. This device helps farmers incubate eggs under optimal conditions, enhancing the efficiency and reliability of poultry farming.
In her winning speech, she urged young people to engage in agricultural innovations and encouraged fellow innovators to believe in themselves and persevere through challenges.
