Fifty thousand youths across the 11 districts of Busoga have cause to smile, after Heifer International in conjunction with other organizations teamed up under a project called Stimulating Agribusiness for Youth Empowerment (SAYE) that trained them in agribusiness and have started reaping big.

The empowerment, has started bearing fruits, as the State Minister for Agriculture, Fred Bwiino Kyakulaga, flagged off several lorries and Tukutukus loaded with Water melon, tomatoes to markets for sell. He also inspected exhibition stalls for juice, honey, and many other agricultural products produced by youths, during a colourful ceremony held at Namungalwe Town Council grounds.

The minister, commended Heifer International and its sister organizations, for coming to help the youths with knowledge in agribusiness which is going to improve on their incomes. He requested Heifer International, to help the youths that are adding value to agriculture products like juice making to get UNBS certification and patents as a way of stopping other people from stealing their ideas. This was in relation to a youth called Kabalayo Hakimu from Buluguyi in Bugiri district who exhibited his juice called Ndiko Mango juice.

The Country Director Heifer International William Matovu said that they joined government to help youths fight poverty. He says that they partnered with several organizations to cause a change in the lives of youths in the region.

The SAYE Program Manager John Senyonga, says that SAYE targets youths from 16 years to 35 years who have been mobilized to form groups of 30 people each. He says that they have so far mobilized 50,000 youths, of whom 27,000 have started earning from agribusiness that includes adding value to the products while the rest are still being trained.

He adds that the five-year program aims at reaching 250,000 out of whom, 17,500,000 will have started earning from the program by 2029. He commended people in Busoga including religious institutions for providing the youths with over 5000 acres of land that they are using to grow crops for sale.