KIC and EACMC engage persons living with disabilities on mushroom farming initiative

Kosmos Innovation Center (KIC) and Ejura Agricultural College and Mechanization Center(EACMC) have held an engagement session with Persons Living with Disabilities (PWDs) who have expressed interest in mushroom farming, as part of implementation of the Young Farmer Business Academy (YFBA) program.

KIC’s Young Farmer Business Academy (YFBA) is a 4 –7-month program that identifies young people who are interested in setting up an agribusiness in agricultural production. The program provides them with a system of training, workshops, and hands-on experience to set up their own farms. The YFBA program forms part of partnership with the Mastercard Foundation under the Initiative for Youth in Agricultural Transformation (IYAT) program.

The stakeholder engagement conducted in partnership with EACMC ahead of the upcoming YFBA training served as an important platform to interact with the participants, focusing on inclusive approaches, needs-assessment and most suitable mechanisms to create the requiredentrepreneurship training impact.

Speaking about the need for inclusive approaches to entrepreneurship training and capacity building, Benjamin Gyan-Kesse, Executive Director of KIC highlighted: “At KIC, we don’t assume, we engage. Every training or intervention begins with listening. We believe inclusivity starts with understanding, and that is why this pre-training engagement is so important.”

As part of the engagement, participants were briefed on the program components, the agricultural production inputs and resources they will receive, including bagged compost substrate (mushroom grow bags) produced by the Young Agripreneurs Forum (YAF) of EACMC as part of their ongoing farm project.

The team also offered guidance on handling of the mushroom bags, watering, placement, and harvesting techniques. This briefing ensures that participants are well-prepared and confident before receiving the agricultural inputs, increasing their chances of successful production and income generation.

The initiative reflects KIC’s strong commitment to inclusive agribusiness empowerment, ensuring that persons living with disabilities who are eager to build sustainable livelihoods through agriculture receive the training, capacity building and entrepreneurship development the YFBA program offers.