A bag of coffee labelled Bugisu, Rwenzori or Mount Elgon tells buyers more than where the product comes from. It identifies its origin, carries a story and, increasingly, gives consumers a reason to pay a premium. For Uganda’s coffee entrepreneurs,…
When coffee farmers lose a harvest to drought or unpredictable weather, the damage goes beyond their gardens. Income disappears, loans become harder to repay, and families may struggle to finance the next planting season. That is the concern behind a…
More than 3.6 million Ugandans are facing acute food insecurity, with the number projected to rise to 4.4 million between February and June 2027, according to an October 2026 assessment by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC). The findings…
Uganda’s coffee businesses are navigating a difficult operating environment. Coffee prices remain volatile, fuel costs are significantly higher than a year ago and the shilling has weakened sharply against the US dollar. For farmers, traders, transporters, processors and exporters, the…
The opportunity to source from Bangladesh should not be interpreted as a case for importing everything that East African businesses need. For Uganda and the wider region, the bigger objective should be to build stronger and more competitive local manufacturing…
Uganda wants Italian investors to move beyond buying its coffee, milk and minerals to processing them locally, transferring technology and manufacturing finished products for regional and international markets. The Uganda–Italy Business and Investment Forum in Rome has opened discussions around…
For Robert Matsiko, animal feed started with a problem many Ugandan livestock farmers knew too well, finding reliable, locally produced feed was difficult. In 1995, after losing his job at the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, Matsiko returned…
Uganda’s cocoa industry is growing rapidly, but the bigger opportunity may lie in what happens after the beans leave the farm. The country exported 72,545 tonnes of cocoa worth US 620.76 million in the financial year 2024/25, up from 51,678…
Uganda does not need to convince Italy to buy its coffee. Italy is already one of its largest export markets. The bigger opportunity is to turn that established trade into businesses that create more value locally, from processing and roasting…
For a business, the most important question about Uganda’s September–December 2026 rainfall season is not simply how much rain will fall. It is what happens to the business if a key road becomes impassable, a supplier cannot deliver, stock is…
Uganda is expanding access to agricultural machinery, but the bigger test of its mechanisation drive begins after the machines are handed over. On September 19, the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) commissioned and handed over 150 single-axle…
Uganda’s cocoa industry is entering a new phase. The crop is no longer a small agricultural story; it is becoming a significant export business. The opportunity now is to build the businesses and infrastructure around it so that more of…
Kenya’s milk shortage has exposed a contradiction at the heart of East Africa’s food economy: one of the region’s largest dairy producers is struggling to meet consumer demand while its neighbour, Uganda, continues to produce enough milk to maintain a…
Uganda is exporting coffee at record levels. But with more than 95% of production still leaving the country as green beans, the next agribusiness opportunity may lie not in growing more coffee, but in capturing more value from what Uganda…
Uganda has spent years asking how farmers can produce more. The more important question now is whether they can capture more of the value created by what they produce. A coffee farmer may sell beans that are eventually processed, packaged…