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Go-Organic: Youth nurturing tomorrow’s Agriculture

Go-Organic: Youth nurturing tomorrow’s Agriculture Go-Organic is a team of young professionals networking for organic in East Africa. It seeks to engage youth in strategic thinking and increase their participation in the organic agricultural sector for sustainable development.

The Go-Organic initiative was started by alumni of the International Training Course on Organic Agriculture - ITCOA implemented from 2005 to date in a partnership between BOKU University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (Austria), Makerere University (Uganda), University of Nairobi (Kenya), Sokoine University of Agriculture (Tanzania), and Bahir Dar University (Ethiopia).

Inspired by the common goal of putting in practice and leverage the skills and knowledge gained in the training course, the alumni constituted a network in the respective countries (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Ethiopia) to engage themselves and other youth to tackle emerging issues such as food security, climate change, youth unemployment and increasing destruction of agro-ecosystems.

Go-Organic’s goal is to mobilize youth to advocate for and promote utilization of agro-ecosystems sustainably through organic agriculture for ecological and social and economic health in East Africa.

Its objectives are;

  • To create a pool of youth with a changed mind-set oriented towards addressing issues affecting the food systems in East Africa through networking;
  • To increase public awareness on organic agriculture principles and practices through integrated and extensive use of ICTs;
  • To encourage consumption of organic products through consumer education;
  • To build capacity of youth in organic agriculture through trainings;
  • To collaborate with like-minded organizations in conducting research, offering training and strengthening advocacy.

To date, Go-organic is legally registered as a non-governmental organization in Uganda and Tanzania and the registration process is on-going in Kenya and Ethiopia. The country chapters are already working with the national partners and organic agriculture movements in the respective countries to create awareness and lobby for youth engagement in organic agricultural sector for sustainable agricultural development.

Since handing over of ITCOA to East Africa in 2014, Go-organic is working with the partner universities to run the programme effective 2015. The Ugandan team also organizes monthly famers’ market in Kampala in partnership with the National Organic Agriculture Movement of Uganda (NOGAMU).

Across East Africa, Go-Organic is engaged in assessment of ten years of ITCOA impact to inform the next phase of its implementation under the “Transdisciplinary & transformative learning in university education for sustainable development project research project”.

Several innovations have also been initiated by members of Go-organic such as manufacturing of Indigenous Micro Organisms for poultry and piggery production in Uganda and the network is disseminating this technology for adaption by farmers.

Partnerships are being explored with Greenpeace and non-governmental and governmental organizations in East Africa to mobilize youth to champion organic agriculture development and we welcome partnerships and collaborations with likeminded individuals and organizations to enable youth shape the agricultural sector.

 

For more information contact Go-organic at

Our Website (Under construction); 

The International Training Course on Organic Agriculture

Our Facebook page

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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Friday, 19 April 2024

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