By Andrew Bugembe and Kefa Senoga
Uganda Christian University (UCU), as part of a consortium with Uganda Martyrs University (UMU), Bugema University (BU), and Kabale University (KAB), has officially launched a transformative research initiative under the project entitled, ‘Strengthening University Delivery of Entrepreneurship Skills for Community Engagement and Action Research in Uganda (SUESCA).’
Unveiled at UCU main campus in Mukono, the project seeks to address Uganda’s urgent youth unemployment crisis by tapping into the vast potential of the Maize-Based Agro-Food Ecosystem (MBAFE).
The five year project aims to equip young people, women, differently abled persons, refugees, and other marginalized groups with entrepreneurial and skills targeting any node in the maize value chain in Bugiri, Buikwe and Kayunga.
The project also brings on board Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions, private industry players, and other key stakeholders. It is funded by the Mastercard Foundation and will report to the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM).
According to recent labour statistics, Uganda’s youth unemployment rate was 4.5% in 2023 and is projected to double by 2035. Further, over 500,000 youth enter the job market annually yet many remain underemployed or without work altogether.
SUESCA seeks to rewrite this narrative by focusing on strengthening the capacity of partners and community in entrepreneurship skills for enhanced productivity, dignified employment and incomes in the target beneficiaries.
“This isn’t just another university project,” said UCU principle investigator, Prof. Balyejusa Kizito, a leading researcher in sustainable agricultural development and community engagement.
“This is a movement to restore dignity to employment and transform maize into an engine of opportunity.” she added.
While Uganda Martyrs University is the lead implementing institution, each partner university brings a specialized focus.
UCU is anchoring its contribution in applied research, commercialization of maize-based products, and innovation programs, including the Nutri-Dense Foods Innovation Program and farmer- market/ buyer linkages whole integrating a Farmer Management Information System (MIS).
These existing platforms and former projects at UCU like the AIRTEA project will be leveraged for SUESCA to provide a head start in delivering results with measurable impact.
Mr. David Mugawe, UCU’s Deputy Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration, who represented Vice Chancellor Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi at the launch, affirmed UCU’s full commitment to SUESCA and described the project as a timely intervention. He stressed the need for lasting transformation. “We do hope that our partnership continues to grow as we continue working together. As UCU, we have a deliberate strategic objective to see that our community engagement is enhanced. He urged the academic community not to see the project as a temporary intervention but as a long-term movement. “We must create systems and ambassadors that live beyond the project’s five-year life span,”
Other project approaches to deliver include: Skilling for Job Creation Short certified training programs, employing climate-smart agriculture, post-harvest technologies, digital entrepreneurship, business incubation, value chain development, and facilitating market access for youth-led startups (expanding Work Opportunities), Peer-to-peer learning, satellite entrepreneurship hubs to ensure outreach even in remote communities.
The UCU SUESCA consortium has set bold targets: reaching over 1700 university and 200 TVET students, 918 of out-of-school youth, creation of 5000 jobs, planting 250,000 trees, 19 startups and 11 spin-offs . Notably, 70% of the beneficiaries will be young women under 35, alongside inclusion of differently abled persons and refugees/ displaced persons.
The rationale for choosing the maize value chain is grounded in strategy. Maize is Uganda’s most widely grown and consumed crop, yet its full economic potential remains largely untapped. SUESCA will engage participants in activities ranging from input supply, mechanized farming, agro-processing, trade, and export logistics, all aligned with Uganda’s NDP IV and Sustainable Development Goals 1,2, 3, 5, 8, 10, 13 & 17.
Prof. Kizito recounted a recent success story: “When you see an engineer managing a 10-acre vegetable farm using climate-smart practices, you realize we are not just changing minds—we are shifting paradigm.
The overarching ambition, in Prof. Kizito’s words: “We should no longer produce just graduates as universities but raise innovators, community transformers, and job creators who will lead Uganda into a future of dignity, sustainability, and shared prosperity.