Four (4) Business Coaches (Mr. Carboni Mugabi, Mr. Ian Mulindwa, Mr. Samson Mwebesa and Nicson Katisme) from Bishop Stuart University and other participants from several African Universities attended a 5-days Training of Trainers’ (TOT) workshop facilitated by Agripreneurship Alliance (AA), based in Switzerland from 16th to 20th November 2020 virtually via Zoom.
Agripreneurship Alliance is one of the partners to Bishop Stuart University through the Incubation Hub.
The virtual ToT workshop was in preparation for the ‘Entrepreneurship in Agribusiness’ course that will be offered between November 2020 and June 2021 where these business coaches will be expected to train up to 3 cohorts of at most 25 students each. Mr. Cosmas Kiguli and Mr. Ambrose Owoesigire will at a later time join the team to offer the training to the students.
The Entrepreneurship in Agribusiness course was developed by AA in partnership with the African Management Institute (AMI) and supported by the Swedish International Agriculture Network Initiative (SIANI). Entrepreneurship in Agribusiness is a part-time course that, over the period of 12-weeks, enables the participant to develop a high-quality business plan.
The course is offered through a ‘blended’ approach through partner universities and institutions in East Africa, including Bishop Stuart University wherein locally trained facilitators guide the participants through the course using the online materials and in-person experiential learning approaches to place the curriculum into the local context.
Last year (2019-2020), Bishop Stuart University trained 56 students, and three winners with the best business plans were each awarded $1,000 to implement their plans. The award ceremony for these students will take place later this year.
Article by Rebecca M. Kalibwani (Ph.D. Economics)
Senior Lecturer/ Faculty Research and Publications Coordinator,
Faculty of Agriculture, Environmental Sciences and Technology (FAEST)
Bishop Stuart University