Green LEAP (Learning Entrepreneurship and Agriculture Practically)

27 Sep 2022

2 min read

Students in green overalls carry hoes while walking together on farmland.

Challenge

The agri-food sector is, and will remain, a fundamental pillar of the Ugandan economy. With 66% of working youth active in agriculture, the sector is also key to youth employment. As the agri-food system evolves, higher-level skills are needed in both up- and downstream segments of agricultural value chains. Young people require technical skills for modern, climate-smart farming, post-harvest handling, and processing, as well as entrepreneurship and digital skills.

Quality, gender-responsive agricultural education and training play a crucial role in motivating and skilling young men and women to pursue careers in the green agri-food sector. However, secondary education in Uganda often steers youth away from agriculture. Traditional “chalk-and-talk” teaching practices fail to engage learners and do not adequately prepare them for the changing demands of the economy.

To address these challenges, education sector plans and reforms aim to strengthen professional development systems for teachers and school leaders.

Goals

O-level teachers, TVET instructors, and school leaders deliver effective, gender-responsive, climate-smart agriculture and entrepreneurship education.

Project Partners

Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES)
National Instructors' College Abilonino (NICA)
UNITE campuses of Mubende, Unyama and Muni
Gulu University

Approach

The Green LEAP programme aims to improve the quality of agriculture and entrepreneurship teaching – and, hence, learning – in Uganda’s lower secondary (O-level) and secondary technical and vocational education and training (TVET) schools.

The programme is built around two pillars:

Pillar 1: Improvement of the quality of teaching, and learning by integrating innovative education solutions in the professional development system for TVET instructors and O-level agriculture and entrepreneurship teachers and school leaders:

Contextualising, testing and piloting three innovative teaching practices – career talks, project-based learning for agri-entrepreneurship, and work-based learning – in collaboration with instructors, teachers, and training colleges.
Forging three pathways for collaboration between training colleges, schools, and agri-food enterprises – role models, mentors, and host enterprises.
Integrating gender and environmental sustainability in teaching practices and partnerships with the agri-food sector.

Pillar 2: Ensure Government Uptake and Sustainability by creating an enabling environment for scaling by:

Designing and piloting an effective, affordable model for blended continuous professional development (CPD) of O-level teachers and school leaders.
Generating evidence to strengthen education solutions and professional development systems.
Developing and implementing an action plan for scaling in partnership with government institutions.

By the end of the programme

Newly qualified and in-service O-level teachers and TVET instructors who benefited from LEAP deliver effective, gender-responsive agriculture and entrepreneurship education.
NICA provides quality pre-service training that equips student-instructors with competences to deliver effective, gender-responsive agriculture and entrepreneurship education.
UNITE campuses of Muni, Mubende, Unyama and Gulu University provide quality pre-service training that equips student-teachers with competences to deliver effective, gender-responsive climate-smart agriculture and entrepreneurship education.
UNITE campuses of Muni, Mubende and Unyama provide quality continuous professional development that equips in-service O-level teachers and schoolleaders with competences to deliver effective, gender-responsive, climate-smart agriculture and entrepreneurship education.
UNITE campuses of Muni, Mubende and Unyama provide quality continuous professional development that equips in-service O-level teachers and school leaders with competences to deliver effective, gender-responsive climate-smart agriculture and entrepreneurship education.
MoES has put in place enabling conditions to scale quality PRESET and CPD.

Editorial note: From 2022-2025, this project was known as LEAP. After additional financing was received in 2025, a focus on climate-smart agriculture and environmental sustainability was added, and the project is now known as Green LEAP.