With UNDP’s support, Miklah’s ShareLand, an initiative that connects farmers to ‘free’ land, is ready to roll!

ShareLand Uganda is Miklah’s initiative to connect farmers to land-owners with unused land, thereby facilitating landowner-farmer partnerships for farming. The project has recently won UNDP and the Government of Italy’s support through the Youth4Climate initiative, thereby marking 2024 a year of action!

But what is the problem? What exactly are we trying to achieve here? Let’s get into it!

ShareLand and the problem of underutilization of land!

Have you ever wondered why Uganda, a country whose 78% of its 46 million people are in Agriculture, is always under attacks of hunger and food insecurity? Wait! Everyone acknowledges agriculture as the backbone of the country, right? However, did you know that agriculture contributes less than 25% to Uganda’s GDP?

The answer is simple; Uganda’s agriculture isn’t as productive as most people think! We have many people involved in it, but simply producing ‘nothing’ or just a little for survival, what the President likes to refer to as subsistence farming – agriculture for your own ‘stomach’ sake only!

Unutilized land

Uganda’s land is generally good for agriculture. About 80% of Uganda’s land is arable. However, many issues make it difficult for this land to be fruitful.

First and foremost, about 40% of Uganda’s households don’t own land, implying that only 60% of the population (or households) own land. Unfortunately, these landowners utilize only 35% of the available land, implying that 65% of Uganda’s arable land is left unutilized.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO, 2022), if Uganda fully utilized its land, the nation would feed more than 200 million people per year. However, in a country of just 46 million people, a significant portion of that population is hungry and suffering from food insecurity.

In summary, we have many people without land, and many others with unutilized land, all suffering the consequences of poor farming and insignificant agricultural production.

ShareLand Uganda identifies interested farmers who are skilled, and with time and passion for farming and connects them to landowners with big chunks of unutilized land, thereby facilitating farmer-landowner partnerships for both commercial and subsistence farming.

The farmer does not need to have money before they get the land they need. Instead, both the farmer and landowner agree to share farm produce per agreed percentages, probably 20% for the landowner and 80% for the farmer who invested everything.

ShareLand and UNDP: How did the partnership come about?

In the early days of 2023, we noticed an opportunity whereby UNDP and the Government of Italy were calling upon climate-oriented initiatives in agriculture to apply for an opportunity to get funded and supported for idea development and upscaling. The program is called ‘Youth4Climate’.

We applied. We later moved on to the next stage of pitching, which happened in Rome, Italy. Nakato Jovia, the initiative’s team leader here at Miklah Life represented us in Rome. God was with us; we won the award. As a result, UNDP and the Government of Italy shall work with us, supporting all our efforts to ensure we roll out the solution in style!

ShareLand and the 2024 Plan of Action

The plan for 2024 is simple. We will develop and organize ShareLand Uganda platforms, including the website, mobile app, and physical office. Later, we will go to the field and encourage farmers and landowners to join the platform. Our job will be to match farmers to plots of land of their choice depending on various factors, including period of use, location, type of farming, and the like. With support from UNDP and the Government of Italy, we hope to register at least 300 users and practically make at least 100 farmer-landowner matches by the end of the first two years.

Would you be willing to support us? How about joining the platform as a farmer or landowner? Try the MVP platform at https://shareland.me. Thank you and keep it #MiklahLife always.