The Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU), the apex body of Uganda’s private sector, and Agricycle Global, a social enterprise, have announced their decision to collaborate on a five-year project, “Global Agricultural Market Linkage for Youth and Young Mothers” (Gamlym).
The goal is to create new local markets for at least two youth-led local businesses through distribution support and to link at least eight youth-led businesses to global markets via high-level strategic partnerships.
The Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU), the apex body of Uganda’s private sector, and Agricycle Global, a social enterprise, have announced their decision to collaborate on a five-year project, “Global Agricultural Market Linkage for Youth and Young Mothers” (Gamlym). The goal is to create new local markets for at least two youth-led local businesses through distribution support and to link at least eight youth-led businesses to global markets via high-level strategic partnerships. Over 9,400 young women and men are expected to benefit from this initiative. The Mastercard Foundation, under its Young Africa Works–Enhancing Lead Firm Structure for Youth Employment in Uganda initiative, will also be a collaborator on the project. The project will work to eliminate food waste while empowering women and youth across the country.
According to estimates by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), annual food losses in sub-Saharan Africa amount to $4 billion. Most food loss occurs between harvest and the point of sale due to a lack of cold chain facilities, especially for perishable goods, poor storage facilities, and insufficient agro-processing skills among smallholder farming communities. A four-pronged strategy has been developed, focusing on distributed networks, appropriate technologies, storytelling, and village empowerment centers.
Dehydrators and processing sites will be established to transform food waste into value-added products for export. To this end, Agricycle has mobilized a network of 40,000 farmers across East Africa, including 1,000 in Uganda. In Uganda, the focus will primarily be on jackfruit, pineapples, sweet potatoes, mangoes, cassava, green matooke, apples, bananas, as well as vegetables, chia, and sesame.
Agricycle currently supplies North America, Europe, and Asia and maintains partnerships with over 10 county governments. The partnership is launched to commemorate World Food Day on October 16, 2021.