Environmental Sustainability

It is inspiring to see young people winning.  On October 7, 2024, we visited one of the youths in this category. Daniel, aged 25 years is among the 440 youth from Dokolo district, Lango sub-region, who benefited from the value addition training that was organized by Lango Child and Community Development Federation (LACCODEF) with support from ChildFund. 

Daniel, who hails from Kangai Town Council in Dokolo district, completed his primary school education in 2013 and joined a technical school in 2014, where he studied a three-year course in Brick Laying and Concrete Practice. He learnt about the value addition training through fellow youth in the community. 

“In 2021, we were trained on value addition, mixing feeds, piggery, business development, among other things. After the training, we were given onions and cabbage seeds to plant. This opened my mind and life started changing,” said Daniel.

Before the training, he could not afford the basic needs of life because he had nothing. He always relied on his mother for assistance. “It was hard to borrow money and ask for assistance from my mother all the time. When I heard about this opportunity, I had to take it for things to change,” he stated.

Around his home, Daniel grows onions and egg plants. He is also venturing into growing passion fruits and papaws. On average he earns UGX 150,000 ($ 40) per week by selling egg plants. From the onions, he makes UGX 800,000 ($ 217) to UGX 1million (271.99 USD) per month, which re-invests into farming.  

Through selling onions and egg plants, he was able to build a poultry house in his compound, he bought a spray pump and a second-hand sewing machine for his wife. In November 2023, he also bought a second-hand motorcycle at UGX 2.5million ($ 679) which he uses for transporting produce to the market for sale, and a plot of land in the nearby trading center, which he acquired at UGX 3million ($ 815).

Daniel weeding his cabbage garden.

To increase his production, Daniel hired another piece of land (about an acre) in the neighborhood at UGX 350,000 ($ 95) for two years, where he grows cabbages, from which he expects about UGX 3 million ($ 815) to UGX 8 million ($ 2,175) in sales this year. His grandmother was impressed by his achievements, and she added him to another piece of land to boost his production.

Daniel with his wife and child.

Rogers Okello, the Agricultural Officer, Kangai Town Council, said whereas they are open to supporting many youth, a few are patient and succeed.

“ Because of his hard work, we supported him with 50 exotic hens in November 2023 as a supplement to what he had already achieved,” he said.

Here he shows us some of his birds.

Future plans

In the next five years, Daniel intends to start a piggery farm, buy a milling machine that will mill feed for the pigs and fence off his land. He also plans to rear guinea fouls, hire more land to increase his production of cabbages and open a savings account in a bank.

“The biggest challenge we face here is the dry spell. We have to fetch water from the well to water the vegetables during the dry spell. There is always a market for my produce because we have market days everyday,” he said. 

He also wishes to be supported with an irrigation facility, more onion seeds and two wheelbarrows. He commended ChildFund and LACCODEF for opening his mind to unimaginable possibilities.