Girls’ Apprenticeship Program
Citi Foundation and TechnoServe are working together to reduce youth unemployment in Uganda by teaching young women the knowledge and skills needed to start their own businesses.
Citi Foundation and TechnoServe are working together to reduce youth unemployment in Uganda by teaching young women the knowledge and skills needed to start their own businesses.
Prepared by the Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School, this report examines how Project Nurture demonstrates the potential for building sustainable and inclusive value chains through cross-sector partnerships.
The Conservation Cotton Initiative in northern Uganda is helping farmers like Francis Obwana rebuild their lives after decades of violent conflict.
Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and implemented in partnership with Heifer International, the East Africa Dairy Development (EADD) program is designed to boost the milk yields and incomes of small-scale farmers so they can lift their families and communities out of poverty.
A partnership with The Coca-Cola Company and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Project Nurture aimed to help more than 50,000 small-scale mango and passion fruit farmers in Kenya and Uganda double their fruit incomes. TechnoServe and its partners worked with farmers to identify new market opportunities, improve productivity and develop strong farmer business groups.
TechnoServe partnered with the Mastercard Foundation to help rural youth in East Africa transition to economic independence. The Strengthening Rural Youth Development through Enterprise (STRYDE) program delivered a comprehensive package of services including skills training, business development and mentoring to young people ages 18 to 30 in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.
In the developing world, small businesses face a number of obstacles that their counterparts in developed countries do not.
Sam Koole, chairman of the Kainja Mango Farmers Association, remembers a time only a few years ago when the fruit from the Sena, a variety of mango native to eastern Uganda, was left to rot on the ground. Since launching Project Nurture in 2010, local farmers are no longer taking the Sena for granted.
Joska Aweko’s life has been indelibly affected by conflict in northern Uganda. But peace has returned in recent years, and with it, the opportunity to rebuild.
For farmers like Samuel Baale, chairman of Bulongo Farmer Business Group in eastern Uganda, cotton is vital to life. The area’s main cash crop, cotton helps pay for homes, provide food and send children to school. And the market for Samuel’s cotton comes from one major buyer: Mutuma Commercial Agencies…