By Our Reporter
In a show of support for the Kigezi region, Uganda Breweries Limited’s top leadership travelled to the area last week to appreciate the people there for the role they play in the company’s operations.
Alvin Mbugua, the Managing Director and Juliana Kagwa, the Corporate Relations Director, started the trip with a visit to the African College of Commerce and Technology in Kabale, where they rewarded 4 youths with seed capital of UGX 7 million to boost their startup businesses following their outstanding performance in the UBL Skills For Life program.
The youths, 2 of whom are girls, have been part of UBL’s Skills For Life scholarship initiative for academically deserving yet economically disadvantaged students.
The Students who received seed capital are Arinda Kofudensi, Tumukunde Immaculate, Nsabiyunva Vian and Nyesiga Francis.
In 2019, UBL offered 40 scholarships worth UGX 116 million for the students to pursue vocational courses from Datamine Technical Business School and Africa College of Commerce and Technology (ACCT), Kabale. Through a technical expert – Enterprise Uganda – UBL also provided career guidance and supported the beneficiaries to start up various businesses to earn them income. Of the 40 students that were awarded scholarships, 24 of these were female and 16 were male.
Speaking during the students’ graduation ceremony at the Africa College of Commerce & Technology (ACCT) – Kabale, Juliana Kagwa, UBL’s Corporate Relations Director said, “We are very passionate about growing Uganda. When we say ‘Buy Uganda, Build Uganda’, we live and breathe by it. The Kigezi region alone supplies almost 60% of our raw materials, so we are indebted to this area. We realised that our role here goes beyond building the farming communities, but also securing the next generation – the children of the farmers and the children of Kigezi as a whole.”
Following the graduation ceremony, the team moved to Kanungu district to visit some of the farmers who supply the barley used in UBL’s brewing operations.
Speaking to members of the Kyashamiro Tukolenamaani Farmers’ Group in Mafuga Parish, Rutenga Subcounty, Kanungu District, Alvin Mbugua, UBL’s Managing Director said, “We are here to appreciate your hard work, which goes a long way towards making sure our business stays operational and thrives for the good of Uganda. We are also happy to see that you have received and are making use of the modern equipment we have been sending, which will increase your productivity.”
The visit is aimed at creating an opportunity for the brewery’s top leadership to meet and interact with the smallholder farmers under the Local Raw Materials (LRM) program.
The Local Raw Materials (LRM) program seeks to build a strong and resilient supply chain that can feed the brewery’s annual demand while empowering smallholder farmers all over the country. Since 2010, the program has seen UBL inject over Shs.32 billion annually for the purchase and distribution of high-quality inputs and modern machinery to 14,000 farmers.
Additionally, the brewery also employs skilled agronomists, who are deployed to the field to provide hands-on training and support whenever required by the farmers.
