“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” Proverb

Kira Farm Training Centre is a unique facility set in 22-acres of fertile Ugandan land. Through Kira Farm, Amigos is able to equip and train some of Uganda’s most vulnerable young people enabling them to become self-sustainable and restoring dignity and hope to their lives. Kira Farm is a beacon training centre, modelling the effective and sustainable use of Uganda’s natural resources. For more information on our farming methods, visit ‘How we farm’.

Each August around 40 young people arrive on Kira Farm. Predominantly from the north of Uganda, these young people have been dramatically affected by conflict and poverty and although many have access to land they have frequently not been taught sustainable farming methods and have no means of financially supporting themselves.

1 in 4 Ugandans do not complete secondary education, and with both the youngest population in the world and the highest rates of youth unemployment (83% of 18-25 yr olds in Uganda are unemployed), there is a devastating situation through Uganda’s youth. Amigos believes that, working together, we can stem this tide and see the young people of Uganda living in financial freedom and with hope and dignity restored to them.

During a 12-month residential course, students at Kira Farm learn innovative and creative farming methods alongside individual vocational training. Chicken, fish and goat husbandry are taught as small rural projects, alongside optional training courses in skills such as Horticulture, Home Economics, House Keeping, Tailoring, Cookery, Catering, Health & Hygiene, Carpentry and Hair & Beauty. The teaching centres on “do-able” village style models with an ongoing thrust of the year being ‘in the field’ teaching with innovative crop growing methods always at the centre of the programme. Upon complementation of their course, each student is given the opportunity to acquire the relevant tools of their trade alongside farming equipment and seeds through micro-financing. This enables each student to return to their community self-sustainable and to become financially free.

Alongside the ongoing education and vocational training, Amigos believes strongly in holistic social transformation. Throughout the year we enable students to complete courses in health, hygiene and nutrition, biblical discipleship and character development. We are also developing pioneering courses teaching non-violent approaches to conflict with the intention that students may become community mediators. Many of our students are orphaned and, aware of the effect that this can have, we are developing parenting classes and encourage the strengthening of wider family bonds.

At Amigos we encourage each person who has been invested in to then invest in others. We expect each Kira Farm student to become a catalyst for positive change in their communities and villages and seek to equip and empower them to achieve this wherever possible.

For as little as £1 a week you, along with others, can help Kira Farm to run successfully and so transform the lives of some of the most vulnerable in Uganda. If you are interested in supporting the work at Kira Farm, why not consider joining our 800 club and give a £1 a week, sponsoring one of our students, or one of Kira Farm trainers. Alternatively, you can make a one-off donation to the work of Amigos at Kira Farm.

Check out some Kira Farm Training Centre vidoes...