Baguma Lucky, 24, scooped a first-class degree in agriculture, from Mountains of the Moon University in Fort Portal. Despite being among the best students, his journey of searching for employment opportunities was not a walk in the park.

“I attempted to secure jobs in a number of companies immediately after graduation, but I was always let down by the kind of skills I had to offer. I had theories and I always got stuck. I couldn’t operate simple machines like silage slicing machines. This made it hard for me to compete for jobs,” Baguma says.

As he was still contemplating the next step to take, luck struck his way. His former course mate at the university shared on social media a text message about the Work Readiness Programme that Enabel and Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU) with funding from the European Union, had initiated to empower fresh graduates with skills that would enable them compete for job opportunities or create their own jobs.

“I grabbed the opportunity and went through a vigorous six months’ training at Honda Enterprises limited. I received hands on training in various disciplines, including organic manure production, animal feeds processing, formulation, preservation and application, biogas production, zero grazing and poultry farming,” he says.

With rampant deforestation that is greatly contributing to climate change and its diverse effects like prolonged droughts that continue to cause food insecurity in the country, shifting from use of charcoal and firewood to biogas as an alternative source of energy is key in conserving the environment. Baguma is among the lucky graduates who were retained by the institution after undergoing a six-month training. He is confident that he can now face the world of work, since he has what it takes to confront the labour market. A total of 12 graduates from Fort port participated in the training. Baguma, like other graduates who were retained by Honda, has been able to produce quality animal and poultry feeds for the company, resulting in increased milk and egg production.

Every day, the company is able to get over 100 litres of milk from the six cows on the farm and 120 trays of eggs. Each tray of eggs goes for Shs.120,000. He also practices piggery and grows maize as his side business. His budding farm is situated in Fort Portal along Kamwenge road. Baguma hopes to become a millionaire in a few years’ time. Every month, Baguma bags over Shs. 600,000 from his current employer and he counts himself lucky, as his name suggests. He says that most of his course mates are still pacing between offices in search of employment in vain. His salary has also helped him to fend for his mother and siblings. His dream is to pursue a master’s degree in Crop Protection and Plant Breeding.