Promoting Meat Production through Bull Fattening
Promoting Meat Production through Bull Fattening
Getting JFFLS rolling in Karamoja and West Nile
Otis! Otis! Otis!In the months of March and April of 2026, the Pitekowa Ventures team had the task of onboarding ZOA Uganda's team onto the Junior Farmer Field and Life School (JFFLS) locomotive. A locomotive because the JFFLS methodology is a like a locomotive train with many wagons in which many actors have taken seats from where they empower young people to become vision bearers of their lives and drivers to their own destinies. Crafted out of the Farmer Field School (FFS) methodology in the early 2000s to respond through empowerment to challenges children due to the HIV/AIDS orphan crisis and armed conflicts, the JFFLS adapts to local needs, incorporating a wide range of life skills in its curriculum which already have agronomic and entrepreneurship skills training as core components. Depending on the contexts, special topics are integrated into the JFFLS curriculum to broaden the capacity of the young people to respond to the challenges they face and needs within their persons, households and communities. These special topics include gender equality, nutrition, child rights and social protection, land right, and mental health/psychosocial support. The immensely positive impact of the JFFLS programme on school performance and transformation of children's lives is well-documented. Therefore, I was quite excited when I saw that ZOA had decided to mainstream JFFLS into their education programme. The opportunity to Pitekowa Ventures to lead the onboarding process humbled us because we strongly believe in the effectiveness of the JFFLS methodology in change young people's lives positively. Personally, few other things motivate me like conducting any applied-science knowledge and skills transfer. Moreover, this was JFFLS, one of my favourite programming areas.With my colleague Tracy J Abalo and ZOA's Education Advisor Sarah Robina Ajwang we conducted week-long theory and practical training of trainers (ToT) sessions in Amudat and Terego districts to equip primary school teachers and District Production Office staff with the know-how required to run the JFFLS programme. All went well. The participants enjoyed conducting early morning agroecosystem analysis (AESA) in the gardens, engaging in the life skills simulation such as managing emotions illustrated using the balloon bursting exercise, and understanding different entry points into the agrifood value chain in order to engage in farming as a business, and how to use understanding of ecosystem interactions to innovate climate smart solutions to negative impacts of global warming.Implementation roll out is in full force in 14 and 8 schools supported by ZOA projects in Amudat and Terego districts respectively. We wish them success!!!The Pitekowa Ventures team is here to onboard, review implementation and evaluate JFFLS and FFS programmes/projects.'Otis' is a universal code used to draw attention of member of an FFS or JFFLS group.
