Miss Uganda contestants in Bukalasa for farm skills
Miss Uganda contestants at Bukalasa Agriculture College on Monday. They are being trained in agricultural skills PHOTO BY DAN WANDERA
What you need to know:
Skills. The contestants have been equipped with basic skills in post-harvest handling, mushroom growing, juice processing, pig rearing and milking procedures
Luweero.
In the past, Miss Uganda meant glamour and glitz. A boot camp that taught contestants how to catwalk and pout their lips and smile for the camera defined the pageant experience. But not anymore.
This year, things are different and the girls are getting their hands dirty, literally, walking amongst pigs and cows, while learning how to take care of the animals.
This week saw the 20 contestants undergo a one-week basic agriculture skills development training at Bukalasa Agriculture College in Luweero District.
“The Miss Uganda contests have previously been known for beauty, modeling without impacting life skills and ideas to help the young girls live a meaningful life in a world full of opportunities in agriculture. This is the basic reason why we have decided to have these young girls train and get some basic agriculture concepts as wealth creators after the contest,” Ms Janet Nalugya, who is coordinating the activities at the College, said.
The contestants, who represent west, north and central regions of Uganda, have so far been equipped with basic skills in post-harvest handling, mushroom growing, juice processing, pig rearing and milking procedures.
Ms Brenda Nanyonjo, the chief executive officer Miss Uganda, says the past beauty contests were known for the glamour and gloss but the slogan has been transformed to “Beauty with a purpose in life” because agriculture is a clear representative of an African setting where more than 85 per cent of the population is employed.
Theefforts
With skills in post-harvest handling, mushroom growing, among others, the contestants are expected to promote wealth creation in Uganda, in line with the 2014 Miss Uganda theme “Making and promoting agriculture entrepreneurship attractive to young women in Uganda”.
