“Climate variability and human-induced soil health degradation greatly hinder food security in Uganda. This has an effect on people in all walks of life, but particularly so for the most vulnerable: women, children, and the elderly. For example, lack of basic food and water often causes domestic violence within deprived households, with women and children comprising the largest targets of such. If nothing is done about this, the immense challenge of achieving a zero-hunger target by 2030 won’t be achieved,” Turyamureeba Amon, a Ugandan entrepreneur, told Savvy.
Turyamureeba Amon is a social entrepreneur with a demonstrated history of working in the agricultural management industry. He co-founded Hydroponic Farms to empower urban communities to grow their own food and increase agricultural yields throughout all seasons. In doing so, he aims to enable the sustainable thriving of his own social enterprise and the community he serves. Through Hydroponic Farms, he aims to provide ecological and innovative means for food production and agribusiness to help marginalized and vulnerable urban communities. Hydroponic Farms serves the urban population, owners of urban farming and greenhouses, the Farmers and Growers association, and people living in informal settlements (i.e. refugees).
One Smallholder Hydroponic farm user, on average, can earn $496 annually—which is sufficient income for an average Ugandan household.
Turyamureeba Amon
When asked how Hydroponic Farms generates revenue, Turyamureeba said, “Our revenue models are subscription, commission, and direct sales. We have a one-time subscription fee where farmers subscribe for the first time. We also have a recurring revenue strategy for commercial farms that we service periodically. We have a transactional revenue model where we charge commission for every transaction through our platform, and we have a revenue-earning strategy charging a commission on every sold item.” Turyamureeba believes Hydroponic Farms is unique and better than its competitors because they have added IoT automation to their farms. To scale their impact, he said they will deploy interoperable smart farming IoT-based platforms, delivered through a target area. “With Hydroponic Farms, farmers can easily get access to their farms on mobile phones.”
With Hydroponic Farms, Turyamureeba believes Ugandan farmers will be able to grow their own food, have enough to eat, and have surplus at home to sell for extra income. Apart from having such a daring project, he believes his team possesses every necessary knowledge, skill, and experience to execute this audacious mission. “We have the right skills and expertise as agronomists and IoT engineers. We have certifications in hydroponic crop management and have a diverse team working together.”
Turyamureeba Amon is a 2020 Savvy Fellow from Uganda. He is the Co-Founder and Head of Operations at Hydroponic Farms.