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Kigezi Potato Farmers Cooperative: From Young Farmers to Cooperative Leaders
Leaving a job to become a farmer might sound like a step backwards. For Owen Twinamatsiko, it became the beginning of something much bigger.
He traded the certainty of employment for the uncertainty of the farm, choosing instead to build his livelihood from the soil. Today, the young farmer is not only growing potatoes full-time, he is multiplying seed for his cooperative and helping shape what comes next for other farmers in Kigezi.
“Being a youth, I have really grown in this cooperative and now I am doing seed multiplication for the cooperative.”
For Owen, the journey is about more than farming potatoes. It is about discovering what is possible when young farmers have a cooperative that gives them the opportunity to learn, access resources and grow into new roles.
Owen is a member of the Kigezi Potato Farmers Cooperative, a youth-led cooperative in Uganda supported through Agriterra’s Common Ground project.
Building a stronger cooperative
Before Agriterra’s support, Kigezi’s farmers faced several challenges that limited their ability to grow their businesses. Access to finance was difficult, farmers had limited financial literacy, quality inputs were not always readily available, and finding reliable markets remained a challenge
Today, the story is changing.
The cooperative has since been working to address these challenges while strengthening its own foundations. One of the key steps was establishing a SACCO, giving members a platform to save and access finance. The cooperative also developed an agro-input shop, making farming inputs more accessible to its members.
Market linkages have helped farmers explore new opportunities for selling their produce, while a demonstration farm has created a practical space where members can learn, test new practices and share knowledge with other farmers.
But some of the most important changes are happening beyond the farm.
The cooperative has also invested in its organisational development. With support from Agriterra, members developed a strategic plan and strengthened their governance through training. Internal capitalisation has further encouraged members to contribute to the growth and financial sustainability of their organisation.
Making space for young people and women
As a youth-led cooperative, Kigezi is also putting inclusion at the centre of its development.
The cooperative has established a youth council, giving young members a stronger voice in its activities and decision-making. Female leadership has also been strengthened, alongside gender sensitisation training aimed at encouraging more inclusive participation within the cooperative.
For young farmers, this creates something that goes beyond access to farming resources, it creates a sense of ownership and a pathway to leadership.
Owen’s experience is one example of this.
His transition from employment to full-time farming has been accompanied by opportunities to develop new skills. Through the cooperative, he is now involved in seed multiplication, contributing not only to his own farm but also to the wider needs of fellow members.
Learning beyond Kigezi
The cooperative is also learning from others.
Through exchange programmes with cooperatives such as Kanaba Onion Farmers and Butuuro SACCO, members have been able to share experiences, see different approaches and bring new ideas back to Kigezi.
Those new ideas are taking root in the fields too.
Growing a new potato future
One of the changes taking root in Kigezi is in the potato fields themselves.
Farmers have begun adapting a Dutch potato variety, moving beyond the local varieties they traditionally relied on. Alongside this, the cooperative is developing seed multiplication, creating potential for improved access to quality planting material for its members.
For a cooperative led by young farmers, these changes represent more than improvements in production. They are creating opportunities for young people to see agriculture as a viable and evolving career.
For Owen, the seed he is multiplying today represents more than a new farming skill. It is a reflection of how far he has come.
What began as one young man’s decision to become a farmer has grown into an opportunity to contribute to something much bigger than his own farm. Owen is no longer simply growing potatoes. He is growing possibility, for himself, for his cooperative and for the young farmers who will come after him.
Through Kigezi Potato Farmers Cooperative, he and other young farmers are finding access to knowledge, finance, markets and leadership opportunities, the very things that can turn farming from a struggle for survival into a pathway for growth.
That is the real transformation taking root in Kigezi: a generation of young farmers discovering that they do not have to leave agriculture to find a future. They can build that future right where they are.
And with every seed they plant, that future is taking deeper root.
