· Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU), Uganda’s apex body for the private sector, and Agricyle Global, a social enterprise, have announced their decision to collaborate in a five-year project, “Global Agricultural Market Linkage for Youth and Young Mothers” (Gamlym).
· The objective is to build new local markets for at least two local youth-led companies through distribution support and also link up at least eight youth-led companies to global markets through high-level strategic partnerships.
Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU), Uganda’s apex body for the private sector and Agricyle Global, a social enterprise, have announced their decision to collaborate in a five-year project, “Global Agricultural Market Linkage for Youth and Young Mothers” (Gamlym). The objective is to build new local markets for at least two local youth-led companies through distribution support and also link up at least eight youth-led companies to global markets through high-level strategic partnerships. More than 9,400 young women and men are expected to benefit from the initiative. Mastercard Foundation, as part of its Young Africa Works–Enhancing Lead Firm Structure for Youth Employment in Uganda initiative will also be a a collaborator in the project. Josh Sheffner, CEO and Founder of Agricycle Global, said that the project will work towards the elimination of food waste while empowering women and youth across the country.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimates, annual food losses in sub-Saharan Africa amounted to $4 billion. Most of the food loss happens between harvest and the point of sale due to lack of cold chain facilities, especially for perishable food items, poor storage facilities, and insufficient agro-processing skills among smallholder farming communities. He added that they have developed a four-pronged strategy focusing on distributed networks, appropriate technologies, storytelling, and village empowerment centers.
Dehydrators and processing sites will be set up for turning food waste into valuable products, for exports. Towards this end, Agricycle has mobilized a 40,000-sized network of farmers across East Africa including 1,000 in Uganda.In Uganda, the primary focus will be on jackfruit, pineapples, sweet potatoes, mangoes, cassava, green matooke, apples, bananas as well as vegetables, chia, and sesame.
Agricycle currently supplies to North America, Europe, and Asia, and has partnerships with over 10 county governments. The partnership is launched to commemorate World Food Day on October 16th, 2021
