DanChurchAid to create over 2000 jobs for refugees in northern Uganda
DanChurchAid (DCA), a Danish international non government organisation has set up a development and commercial project named “Fresh Fruit Nexus” aimed at supporting the development of decent employment opportunities for refugees and members in refugee host communities.
Speaking at the launch of the project held at the Heritage Park Hotel in Arua, Peter Bo Larsen, DanChurchAid Country Director said the project will benefit over 500 households in the pilot phase, creating over 2150 decent jobs especially for women and children in refugee camps and host communities in Northern Uganda.
“DanChurchAid received a 5 year grant from the Danish International Development Agency (Danida) for the Fresh Fruit Nexus project which will support sustainable market development and entrepreneurship in and around refugee camps in Northern Uganda and other neighbouring regions as we progress. With this project, we aim to support over 500 households in Arua and in effect create an employment chain of over 2150 people,” he said.
Sonia Mwadime, the Director of BioFresh Limited while addressing the conference said there is a need for the produce to meet the standards set by Nordic, the project’s partner Danish importer in order to meet the market needs and demands.
“A team from BioFresh visited Denmark to conduct a market analysis and we quickly realised some challenges such as the type of sweet potato sold in their markets are different from ours based on colour, size of the roots and even shape. We therefore have to work together to ensure that we deliver the grade one size of sweet potatoes required to fill at least one container to be shipped to Denmark. At the moment, we may not be able to fill a container with only sweet potatoes but luckily, we can add other organic fresh vegetables and fruits to the containers as long as they can be contained within the temperatures required to keep the sweet potatoes fresh," Mwadime said.
Bio Fresh Limited during its discussions with Nordic was able to identify Egypt, Senegal, South Africa, Guatamala, Spain and USA as the main competition in the sweet potato export business to Denmark.
Speaking at the same event, the Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Denmark in Kampala, Henrik Jespersen in his capacity as guest of honour congratulated DanChurchAid upon the launch of the project and challenged Ugandans to take advantage of the numerous opportunities available in Denmark in order to foster economic growth and sustainable development.
“There are many opportunities in Denmark. What is lacking is awareness of these opportunities for Ugandans to take advantage of. Investors on the other hand are, like any other investors, wary of the political and economic situations in Uganda and as such are hesitant to invest in the country which goes to show for the minimal number of Danish investors so far. So this project is definitely a welcome venture and I must say DCA is doing quite some impressive work," Jespersen said.
The District LC V Chairman, Wadri Sam Nyakua welcomed the project and promised to rally support from farmers and other members in his community to ensure the success of the Fresh Fruit Nexus Project.
Uganda is host to over 1,223,033 refugees according to records from the Office of the Prime Minister as at the end of February 2019.
