Across Uganda’s Rwenzori and Albertine regions thousands of vulnerable youth and women are trapped in a cycle of unemployment, unreliable incomes, and scarce economic opportunities. For many households, daily survival depends on subsistence farming, casual labour, and small-scale petty trade that barely meets daily needs.
In spite of agriculture being one of the region’s economic backbone, many young people lack the practical skills, financial capacity, market access, and entrepreneurial support needed to transform agriculture from a survival activity into a sustainable source of income and employment.
What is increasingly needed are practical, market-driven interventions that go beyond training alone to programs that equip youth and women with technical skills, business knowledge, financial literacy, climate-smart agricultural practices, and direct pathways to markets and employment.
It is within this context that the WeWork – Green and Decent Jobs for Youth Project was launched in Kabarole and Kyegegwa districts, including Kyaka II Refugee Settlement. The 18-month programme aims to equip 500 vulnerable youth, women, and girls with employability and climate-smart agriculture skills in poultry and horticulture value chains.
The project is funded by the European Union and the government of Belgium, and is implemented by AVSI Foundation, Karambi Agrotourism Development Initiative (KADI) and Enabel.
Beyond the numbers
A baseline assessment conducted by AVSI Foundation in April 2025 revealed significant livelihood and employability gaps among participants, highlighting the urgent need for targeted interventions.
The findings showed that 83 percent of participants were unemployed, while an equal proportion were not engaged in any income-generating activity. In addition, 87 percent lacked climate-smart agricultural skills and practices, and 84 percent had never received vocational certification, with most households relying on irregular and unsustainable income sources for survival.
These findings underscore that the vulnerability facing youth and women is not due to a lack of potential, but rather limited access to practical skills, mentorship, financial inclusion, and opportunities to apply knowledge productively towards sustainable livelihoods.
Bridging the Skills Gap Through Practical Learning
The project adopted a hands-on skilling model designed to transition participants directly into wage and self-employment opportunities. Participants were organised into groups and supported with personal protective equipment including gumboots, overalls, gloves, and working tools to facilitate practical learning.
Through collaboration with six skilling partners, youth received six months of hands-on training in poultry and horticulture focusing on high-demand and fast-return value chains such as carrots, onions, green pepper, and other vegetables.
The training integrates climate-smart agricultural practices including irrigation for both in-season and off-season production, intercropping, push-pull pest management systems, and the use of poultry waste as organic manure to promote environmentally sustainable farming.
One of the approaches of the project is the “Earn As You Learn” model. Under this model, participants are allocated demonstration plots where they plant, manage, harvest, process, and market crops themselves — gaining practical experience across the entire agricultural value chain from production to market.
After sales, participants remit 30 percent of the proceeds while retaining 70 percent as income. For poultry production, demonstration sites were established within communities where groups collectively rear one-day-old chicks, sell mature birds, restock, and gradually build startup capital for their own enterprises.
“Before the WeWork project, we only practiced subsistence farming because we lacked the practical skills and support needed in poultry and horticulture production. Through the project, we received six months of hands-on training at the demonstration site on poultry management, particularly on raising day-old chicks. As a group, we were supported with 200 day-old chicks, feeds, and essential farming tools to start production. From our first sales, we earned UGX 2.5 million in January 2026, which enabled us to restock and expand to a third batch of 300 birds in March 2026. We now estimate to earn UGX 3.5 million and already have growing customer demand that we are working hard to meet. The project has not only given us skills, but also confidence that poultry farming can become a sustainable source of income for our group and families.”
Catherine, Chairperson, Kabweeza Group.
To strengthen employability and business development capacity, WeWork also integrates entrepreneurship training, financial literacy, Village Saving and Loans Associations (VSLAs), marketing, and mindset transformation sessions. The VSLAs have become particularly instrumental in helping participants save, borrow, invest, and support one another socially and economically.
Many participants are now applying the skills acquired through the project within their own homes and gardens, paving the way for the establishment of small agribusiness enterprises and household income generation activities.
“Through the WeWork, I learnt how to grow carrots, cabbage, sukuma wiki, and spinach, with support from my family, I have planted half an acre of carrots because there is a ready market. I hope to earn UGX 1.5 million by April 2026, which will benefit my family and I.”
Evans Birungi Otim.
To further strengthen employability, participants are assessed under Level One Modular training by the Uganda Vocational and Technical Assessment Board, Uganda’s national regulatory body responsible for assessing and certifying vocational skills competencies for wage and self-employment readiness.
Creating Opportunities in refugee settlements
In Kyaka II Refugee Settlement, the need for sustainable livelihood solutions remains urgent, particularly as many refugee households continue to face reduced humanitarian assistance. Nearly 60 percent of refugees have been cut off from food ration support, creating significant pressure on household food security and livelihoods.
The WeWork project equipped refugee youth with practical agricultural and entrepreneurship skills and is supporting them with startup capital that can help them transition into productive employment. Because access to land remains limited within the settlement, participants are being trained in urban farming methods such as tower gardening systems that enable households to grow vegetables within small spaces for consumption and income generation.
“The gap we see is that most refugees have skills but lack support to put into practice what they have learnt,” explains Eliya Muabazi, Director of Refugee Empowerment for Sustainable Development in Africa (RESDA) one of the six skilling partners. “Refugees are appreciating the project because they are doing something productive while earning an income, the beautiful thing is that the people who had no decent source of livelihood are becoming the problem solvers.” Eliya adds.
Eliya Muabazi
With the success of the implementation of WeWork, self-reliant youth groups capable of supplying poultry products within Kyaka II and neighbouring communities will be nurtured.
Building Markets, networks, and hope
The project partners are also enabling participants beyond production by creating market access opportunities and strengthening business networks. Through internal market platforms, youth groups collectively sell produce to vendors in bigger markets and consumers while benefiting from peer learning and psychosocial encouragement from fellow participants.
The Kabarole district hosts more than 10 farmers’ markets attracting buyers from across Uganda as well as neighboring Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Participants are supported to bulk produce, compare market prices, negotiate sales, and establish direct relationships with buyers and retailers.
According to Stephen Birungi, the director of KADI, the AVSI Foundation-implemented WeWork project segment which ends in October 2026 is gradually transforming how participants perceive agriculture as they begin to view farming not as a merely subsistence activity, but a viable business opportunity and pathway to employment. He notes that “this intervention is expected to increase household incomes, expand employment opportunities, strengthen expertise in climate-smart agriculture, and contribute to peace and stability within families by keeping youth productively engaged in sustainable livelihoods.”
Stephen Birungi