Youth and Women Quality Centres (YWQCS) innovation profile

Youth and women's quality centres are community-owned, community-led centres that facilitate and stimulate the adoption of technologies to support smallholder farmers in improving their production and productivity. The primary objective of the YWQCs is to increase the adoption and use of quality seeds and to support the adoption of good agricultural practices and use of appropriate post-harvest technologies. The centres also connect smallholder farmers to extension services, input supplies, and markets for their produce, while advocating for value addition. The adoption of good agricultural practices by placing youth and women at the centre of the business. Innovation typology in Uganda. Ensuring equitable access to high-quality, climate-resilient, high-yielding crop varieties is critical to enhancing agricultural productivity, contributing to food security, and improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers. However, entrenched barriers such as limited mobility and lack of access to information and resources due to pervasive social norms have long hindered the widespread adoption of these varieties, particularly among marginalised groups like women and youth. There is thus a need to design seed pathways that make it easier for farmers to produce and sell their grain. A seed delivery system that enables farmers to obtain the right varieties at the right time and place would support increased quality production. Youth and women quality centres offer an entry point to facilitate the adoption of new bean and rice varieties, the production and use of quality seeds, and the adoption of good agricultural practices by placing youth and women at the centre of the business.