FEED THE FUTURE : the pumpkin business.

FEED THE FUTURE : the pumpkin business. Fatuma is the managing director of Byeffe Foods Company Limited, a food processing company in Uganda, using pumpkin as their raw material. Byeffe’s products include nutritious pumpkin mixed with soy, millet, and rice flour for porridge. Children love the porridge, and it’s giving them a vital nutrition boost. This is especially important for vulnerable households that have children who suffer from malnutrition. It puts a smile on my face to see that my products are enabling more young children in communities in Uganda to grow up healthy and strong. In addition to making affordable, nutritious food for the children in my country, Byeffe is helping young people to tap into the potential of agriculture for employment and growth. We are creating on- and off-farm jobs for thousands of youth just like me. We are also teaching young Ugandans in these communities entrepreneurial skills that can enable and empower them to start their own businesses. In agriculture, there are so many opportunities that young people can tap into, and I want to help them realize that our time is now, and the place is in the agriculture sector. It’s been two years since she started the company, and in that time, has provided more accessible and nutritious food options to communities across Uganda, created a variety of agricultural jobs that generate income for families, and empowered more people like me, especially young women, to create their own path in the agriculture industry.This is all thanks to a very vital crop -- pumpkin. As the business grew, she needed access to a larger supply of fresh pumpkins so Feed the Future helped mobilize more than 1,200 young farmers. These farmers are not only earning more by selling their harvest to Byffe Foods, but also extending the reach and offer of the company's nutrient-rich products to more consumers. FEED THE FUTURE : the pumpkin business.