In a bid to influence and impact society, Bbeg Media recently travelled to the countryside to highlight success stories that are reshaping perceptions about farming.
One such story unfolds in Kayonza village, Butembo sub-county, Kyankwanzi district, where Tracy Teddy Nagawa, a young farmer, is leading a quiet agricultural revolution.
Nagawa is the founder of Katika Empowerment Association, a group of young, educated farmers formed to improve livelihoods through organised and commercial agriculture. Today, the association boasts more than 100 members.
“Katika means dance,” Nagawa explains with a smile. “We believe farming should be done with pride and joy. That is why we say we dance as we farm.”
Her journey back to the village was deliberate. After realising the potential of agriculture, Nagawa decided to return home and invest her energy in farming rather than pursue opportunities elsewhere.
“When I got the idea that farming was great, I decided to come back to the village and do it. I also thought it would be better if I did not venture alone, so we formed an association. That was the birth of Katika,” she says.
After forming the group, access to land became the next hurdle. Help came from close to home. Nagawa’s father offered land a short distance from their residence, enabling the group to start operations.
In 2024, the association planted maize on 200 acres. With support from the district, they accessed tractors to prepare the land, and the first season exceeded expectations.
“We were lucky. The first season worked out and we had a bumper harvest,” Nagawa says.
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Beyond selling grain, the group has ventured into value addition by producing maize flour, although challenges remain.
“We do mill our maize, but not at the quality we want. There are no good machines in Kyankwanzi. If we had better equipment, our work would improve tremendously and we would also help the wider community, which largely depends on agriculture,” she said.
Hillary Musoke, the senior presidential advisor on Agribusiness, says initiatives like Nagawa’s are exactly what the government seeks to promote.
“This is what President Museveni has been emphasising all along, doing agriculture with ekibalo [with some calculation]. Now that these young people are following that path, we shall make sure they are assisted,” Musoke said.
Musoke urges Ugandans to work in organised groups, saying it makes it easier for government programmes to reach them.
“Form groups like Katika. It is easier for government to organise and support people who are working together,” he says.
Still in Kyankwanzi district, farming has also sustained older generations. In the same area lives Eric Kiggundu Mugerwa, a veteran coffee farmer who has been in the trade since the 1970s.
Mugerwa’s coffee plantation covers 15 acres and supports additional enterprises, including beekeeping and vanilla farming.
“Coffee is my everything. From this farm, I harvest many bags every season. Coffee has been a magic bullet for me,” Mugerwa said.
The diversity on his farm, he adds, helps cushion him against losses.
“If one crop fails, I rely on another project. All in all, farming has been my livelihood,” Mugerwa says.
Musoke says farmers like Mugerwa need more support from local governments, especially in irrigation.
“There are simple irrigation machines that districts can provide. I wonder why farmers like Kiggundu are not helped. If he had irrigation equipment, he would farm throughout the dry season and earn all year round,” he said.
Bbeg Media remains committed to showcasing practical examples of how agriculture, when organised and supported, can transform lives across generations in Uganda. Contact 0752484183 if you have such a story.