Brewing Hope: Nakaseke Youth use coffee to Flight Joblessness

By Wasswa Johns

In Nakandi villaKge, Nakaseke ssaza , Nakaseke district, coffee is more than a crop ,it's lifeline for unemployed youth.

With Uganda's youth unemployment over 21%, and higher in rural areas, farming offers hope. Ronald sserunkuuma , 26, turned his grandfather's land into a five-acre coffee farm ." I had no job after school," he says " Now I employ four other and sell beans to Kampala buyers"

He co-founded Nakaseke Youth in coffee, a group of 60 young farmers using smartphones ,organic methods,and solar dryers . Joan Nakabugo, 24, runs a seeding nursery "coffee gave me a second chance, " she says .

But challenges persist : unreliable rain , high fertilizer prices,and lack of irrigation," climate change affects quality," says group leaders Sarah Nantongo .

District officials are hopeful ," These youth are self- driven ," says Agricultural official official, Paul lwanga , Nakaseke town council mayor, Musimbako james , adds " Their work is Transforming our community, We need to support them with tools and market access.