Young Farmers Champions Network (YOFCHAN)

The Young Farmers Champions Network (YOFCHAN) was founded in 2016 as an umbrella organisation for Ugandan youth in agriculture. It was established to reduce youth unemployment by rebranding agriculture as a "cool," profitable career path for youth. YOFCHAN empowers youth with the knowledge, tools, and resources needed to scale sustainable agribusiness enterprises. By 2017, YOFCHAN gained national prominence through the Youth Inspiring Youth in Agriculture (YIYA) initiative, in partnership with the FAO and the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries. YIYA successfully positioned youth agribusiness champions as role models to other youth in their rural communities. Currently, YOFCHAN has a membership of 30,000 young farmers through its 13 sub-regional chapters and a series of Youth Agricultural Parks (YAPs) in the Nwoya district. These parks provide collaborative farming spaces where youth can access land, modern irrigation, and tractor services that would otherwise be out of reach. Beyond physical infrastructure, the network's activities include providing financial literacy training, business development skills, and connecting members to high-value markets and finance.