Uganda’s population is young, but a high unemployment rate means many young people struggle to build a life for themselves. At the same time, Uganda’s agriculture sector is desperate for practically trained young agripreneurs and labourers. With the average age of farmers around 60, Uganda’s farmers of the future are in high demand. Supported by the government of the Netherlands, NGO AVSI trains young Ugandans to become successful agripreneurs and agricultural employees. 

India, the world’s second-largest producer of rice, is sitting on a mountain of raw material, without realistic options to cash in on it. So each year, farmers burn around 90 million tons of rice straw, releasing a considerable amount of C02 in the process. Indian and Dutch public and private organisations have created the Biomass India consortium to convert this waste into climate-positive products.

Every day, 2,000 hectares of fertile land is lost around the world because of salinisation. Finding techniques and technology to prevent or counter this phenomenon increases the sector’s ability to adapt to changes, such as climate change.

New irrigation and fertigation methods can help us make the best of limited water resources and allow farmers to grow more crop per drop. A Dutch-Colombian partnership is working on increasing water efficiency in one of Colombia’s most important agricultural sectors: the palm oil industry.

In Nigeria, a group of Dutch companies founded the Seeds 4 Change (S4C) programme, to support the local horticulture sector to become self-sufficient.

To feed a growing world population, we must find innovative new ways to increase the food supply without endangering the environment. Sustainable agriculture is key here.