Bonny: Learning the Skills to Scale-up his Farm

Bonny, age 20, lives in Omoro District in Uganda with his mother.  Like many of his peers, he dropped out of school about halfway through his primary school education because his family could not afford the school fees.  He spends most of his time helping his mother to grow food for the family and to earn income. A combination of poverty, lack of education and training and high unemployment means that farming is often the only viable source of income for many people who live in the area.   

Bonny joined the POWER 4 AY project in 2022, where he received training in life skills, literacy, numeracy and sexual and reproductive health, as well as entrepeneurship skills training.  “I have learnt a lot since I joined the project,” said Bonny.  “Life skills training taught me to work with others, respect elders and set my life goals.  I learnt the benefit of saving and I was able to access a loan to buy input for agriculture.” 

 The project´s entrepeneurship skills training and start-up support has motivated Bonny to aspire to become an agribusiness entrepreneur.  “I want to engage in large scale agriculture and sell produce as well,” said Bonny.  In the past he would only have farmed for subsistence but as a result of what he has learned through the project, he has now planted two acres of maize, which he expects to produce a good harvest.  He also plans to buy cattle to support his family to farm on a larger scale for commercial production.   

Bonny is well-respected in his community and encourages other young people to work hard, be consistent, and save money, so that they can also build a better future.