The Chess for Agriculture Training of Trainers (ToT) workshop has successfully concluded in Mityana, equipping 25 youth leaders with practical agricultural knowledge and strategic-thinking skills to spearhead the programme’s rollout in communities across Uganda.
The four-day residential training, held from Monday, September 7 to Thursday, September 10, 2026, at the SOM Horizon premises in Kiwawu, Mityana, brought together participants from Uganda’s four regions.
Nine of the 25 participants were women.
The training was designed to move beyond conventional agricultural instruction by using chess principles to cultivate a mindset of planning, discipline, calculated decision-making and problem-solving among young people engaged in agriculture.
Under the programme’s guiding slogan, “Think Like a Chess Player. Plan Like a Farmer. Grow a Better Future,” participants were challenged to translate the strategic principles of chess into practical and sustainable farming practices.
The initiative seeks to encourage young people and farmers to adopt manageable, effective and efficient agricultural practices, while viewing farming as an enterprise that requires careful planning and informed decisions.
“With a ‘Think Like a Chess Player. Plan Like a Farmer. Grow a Better Future’ slogan, chess for agriculture initiative intends to improve how farmers think.
We want our people to start manageable, effective and efficient practices.” Robert Katende, director of The Robert Katende Initiative and SOM Chess Academy.
The workshop was facilitated by Robert Katende, director of The Robert Katende Initiative and SOM Chess Academy, alongside Kenyan facilitators Moses Opagalo, the chief facilitator, and Paulyene Masanja, both from Farm Inputs Promotions (FIPS) Africa Limited.
Participants represented the Western Region with seven participants, Northern Region with five, Central Region with seven and Eastern Region with six.
Beyond classroom sessions, the training incorporated hands-on agricultural activities, exposing participants to vegetable production, staple crops, poultry, nursery-bed preparation and other practical farming practices.
Selected practicing adult farmers also participated in the programme, with their gardens visited during the training.
The field visits gave the trainees an opportunity to learn from farmers already implementing agricultural practices within their communities.
The practical component is central to the programme’s next phase, as the trained regional leaders return to their respective areas to train more young people and establish model gardens and other agricultural projects that can serve as demonstration and learning centres.
Moses Opagalo said the training had achieved its intended objective of challenging participants to rethink their approach to farming.
“It was an amazing class, at the end of the workshop, I believe the mindset is now changed and good practices are set to be applied on their farms and garden.
We shall keep monitoring them closely as we exchange ideas as a group in different ways.” Moses Opagalo
To strengthen implementation and regional coordination, the initiative also provided four new motorcycles to selected Chess for Agriculture regional coordinators.
The motorcycles are expected to improve mobility as coordinators conduct community trainings, monitor model gardens and provide follow-up support to youth-led agricultural projects across their respective regions.
Regional follow-up visits are scheduled for November 2026 to assess the progress of the model gardens and other projects, identify challenges, document lessons and provide additional support to regional teams.
The programme is being implemented by The Robert Katende Initiative in partnership with SOM Chess Academy, FIPS Africa and Seeds of Change, with the broader ambition of using chess as a practical tool to develop a generation of young people capable of applying strategic thinking, planning, discipline and problem-solving to agriculture and sustainable livelihoods.
