For years, agriculture has been demanding hard work while offering limited opportunities. Young people have been putting in the effort, yet many have remained trapped in subsistence, earning little, disconnected from reliable markets and without the support needed to grow. This is not because they lack ambition, but because the system has been failing to support them.
Today, a different story is unfolding in Namagere Sub County in the Busoga Region, Jinja District, Eastern Uganda. More than 300 young farmers are now part of a growing network that is transforming how they farm and earn. With access to reliable market connections, timely information, and financial support across horticultural value chains, small plots are becoming viable businesses, restoring confidence in agriculture as a pathway to opportunity.
The WeWork-Green and Decent Jobs for Youth project, implemented by Swisscontact Uganda and co-funded by the European Union and the Government of Belgium through Enabel, is creating opportunities for young people by strengthening the wider market system. The project connects young women and men to businesses that provide practical skills, quality inputs, extension services and reliable markets, with the goal of creating green and decent employment opportunities for 1,800 youth across Western and Eastern Uganda.
A key partnership driving this transformation is with Traford Export Commodities, a leading horticultural exporter in Busoga operating across Uganda, Kenya, South Sudan and Rwanda. The collaboration follows a market systems development (MSD) approach, positioning Traford as a lead private Sector actor that anchors a network of actors across the horticultural value chain.
At the centre of this model are youth-led Agri-Hubs, established within farming communities as accessible service and aggregation points linked to Traford’s supply chain. Their proximity enables young farmers to access inputs, extension services and markets closer to where they live and produce.
The hubs coordinate inputs through credit arrangements, deliver extension support through demonstration plots, organise production according to market demand and aggregate produce for sale. By bringing these services closer to farmers, the hubs reduce transport and transaction costs, shorten the time between harvesting and aggregation, improve produce handling and help minimise post-harvest losses.
For Nabirye Sara, a single mother of two from Jinja District, agriculture was once a means of survival. Living at her father’s home without a stable income, she struggled to provide for her children and had limited prospects for independence. Her turning point came after seeing friends who had joined the initiative improve their lives. Inspired, she decided to enrol.
Today, Sara is part of Traford’s horticultural production network. With access to training, quality inputs, and a reliable market, she cultivated half an acre earlier this year, planting tomatoes and harvesting 5,000 kilograms. Within just four months, she earned over UGX 5,918500 UGX (CHF 1290.78) from her produce across four harvests.
As harvests move from gardens through the Agri-Hub and into Traford’s markets, a different future is taking root in Busoga. Young farmers are increasingly becoming part of a connected market system where they can access inputs, extension services, finance and reliable buyers. This is helping them improve productivity, reduce post-harvest losses, strengthen their bargaining power and earn better incomes. For Traford, the model is creating a dependable supply of quality produce to serve its expanding markets.
This progress is grounded in the Market Systems Development (MSD) and Inclusive Systems Development (ISD) approaches, which begin by identifying the underlying constraints affecting young farmers, understanding the incentives of different market actors and designing commercially viable partnerships capable of delivering lasting change.
The story of Busoga shows that sustainable youth employment grows when the entire market system works. The journey, however, is still unfolding. Reaching more young people will require stronger local service providers, better access to finance, climate-resilient production, consistent quality standards and greater private-sector participation. By nurturing these relationships, the WeWork-Green and Decent Jobs for Youth project is helping build livelihoods that can continue growing long after its direct support ends.
The WeWork – Green and Decent Jobs for Youth project is co-funded by the European Union and the Government of Belgium through Enabel.