WAKISO – Gudie Leisure Farm is set to host the Aquaculture Cottage Industry Symposium – a private sector-led initiative aimed at enlightening would be and existing investors in its value chain about the opportunities therein as well as emerging developments and their implications.
The event will be taking place on Monday, 8th April, 2024 in Najjeera II – Kira Municipality. Wakiso district.
Speaking at a Press Conference on Thursday, Prof Gudula Naiga Basaza, Founder and Managing Director of the Company, said, “We are excited to announce yet another very empowering event the Aquaculture Cottage Industry Symposium-the third this year in our series of knowledge events, aimed at shining the spotlight on the potential gains that can be mined from yet another one of our country’s highly profitable value chains which plays an essential role in our development!”
The main objectives behind this event are; –
(a) to expose micro, small and medium enterprises (MSEs) in the industry to the existing and emerging business development opportunities in the marketplace,
(b) to equip MSEs in the industry with the technical and business skills required to build strong and successful businesses,
(c) to establish platforms through which the industry’s MSEs can build strong collaborations with stakeholders who can support their growth and sustainability, and,
(d) to put a spotlight on the Youth Agripreneur Champions in Uganda who are leading the socio-economic transformation of their communities through their aquaculture cottage industry initiatives
According to Prof. Basaza, Fisheries continues to be one of Uganda’s highest income earners.
“While its contribution to Uganda’s GDP in the CY Year 2021/22 was only 2%, in nominal prices, the sector recorded a value addition of 3,298 billion shillings to the economy Fish and fish products were also the third highest value of exports in the CY 2021-2022, generating about USD $116.2 million for the country. It is one of our core value chains for our Company, and we are keen on promoting it because of the immense returns Uganda and its industries can generate from it, not just in form of profits and export revenues, but also in terms of food and nutrition security as well as employment.”
In 2017, the fisheries sub sector, according to Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries – MAAIF, employed about 1.7 million people directly and over 3.5 million indirectly.
Prof. Basaza says that further development through strategic investments can drive this number up which would be very beneficial to, as well, improving the livelihoods of our local communities and especially the youth, hence their strong commitment to promote the sector for investment.
“We are proud to report that our Company’s network of agripreneurs in the sub sector has grown to about 70,000 Youth Agripreneur Champions (YACs), most of whom are involved in catfish production, value addition and trade.”
She is optimistic that the symposium will highlight the various business opportunities that exist in the sector which potential investors, especially youth, can exploit and state of the art research and innovations that are being developed by different stakeholders such as National Agriculture Research Organization (NARO) which can increase our businesses efficiency and profits, and also discuss innovative strategies value chain actors can jointly employ to navigate the challenges in the sub sector as well as attract catalytic investments.
Ms. Florence Nampeera, an entrepreneur and one of Gudie Leisure Farm’s district agents overseeing the development of its Youth Agripreneur Champion networks in Kyotera and Rakai said, “We have been training youth through our incubation center in the area of aquaculture for several years now. The youth are eager to invest in this sector because of the immense opportunities they have begun to see in it, and we are currently working with them to establish and build aquaculture cottage industries in groups, right from the parish level, that will become an important source of inputs, finished products and business services for different value chain actors. It is our pleasure as a member of the private sector to proactively promote and implement initiatives that support the achievement of Government of Uganda’s socio-economic transformation efforts and welcome potential and existing investors and development partners, especially young entrepreneurs, to participate.”
About Gudie Leisure Farm
Gudie Leisure Farm (GLF) is a social enterprise providing various agribusiness development services to youth-owned micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in the agricultural sector, and in particular, those operating in the white meat and related value chains. Established in 2009, the company, since its inception, has been providing the MSMEs with the technical and business training they need to produce and distribute high quality white meat products and services through its agribusiness incubation center, linking them to markets in and outside their districts of operation that can deliver them with the returns they expect from their investments and business development services (BDS) providers in the public and private sectors that can support the growth and sustainability of their enterprises.
The Company has built a network of over 211,412 people and youth in 700 parishes and 50 divisions in 31 districts in Uganda including: Kampala, Mukono, Wakiso, Lwengo, Kyotera, Masaka, Kiryandongo, Luweero, Dokolo, Moroto, Arua, Adjumani, Amolatar, Nwoya, Soroti, Jinja, Namisindwa, Tororo, Hoima, Mbarara, Isingiro, Kabale, Kisoro, Kikuube, Kabarole, Kamwenge, Kassanda, Madi-Okollo, Rubanda and Rakai and operates in 6 refugee settlements Kampala, Rwamwanja, Kiryandongo, Maaji, Nakivale, Rhino Camp-Madi-Okollo and Kyangwali, Kikuube.
