TAKEAWAYS

• Nabbanja says her farm generates millions from eggs, bananas, coffee and other agricultural enterprises.
• She says she sold more than 500,000 coffee seedlings in six months, with sales potentially exceeding Shs1 billion.
• She is urging Ugandans to embrace the Four-Acre Model and focus on productive enterprises suited to their available land.

Uganda’s Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. Robinah Nabbanja, has revealed how commercial farming has become one of her biggest sources of income, saying her agricultural investments are generating millions of shillings from poultry, bananas and coffee.

Speaking in an interview on Bukedde TV, Nabbanja, who is also the Woman Member of Parliament for Kakumiro District, detailed the various enterprises on her farm and the returns she says they generate.

Nabbanja said she has over 120k chickens, from which she collects about 320 of trays of eggs every day. She said the egg business alone can generate about 3.15m UGX on a daily basis.

Her banana plantation is another major source of income. Nabbanja said she has about two acres of bananas producing roughly 80 bunches a week, which she sells in Kakumiro and Kampala. She said the business earns her more than Shs16 million, prompting her to acquire a customised vehicle specifically for transporting bananas to Kampala.

“When you start practising it, you realise that the things the President talks about are possible.”

Nabbanja also highlighted her coffee nursery, saying she sold more than 500,000 coffee seedlings over a six-month period at about Shs2,000 each. At that price, the sales would amount to approximately Shs1 billion.

She said she initially did not realise the seedlings could fetch as much as Shs5,000 each, but now plans to expand production after learning the market.

“People think that when the President talks about the four-acre model, it is not realistic, but when you practise it, you see the reality.”

Nabbanja said she produces seedlings from her own coffee mother garden and is expanding coffee production while intercropping it with bananas.

She added that although she owns a regional hotel in Kakumiro, the hospitality business does not generate as much money for her as farming.

Nabbanja urged Ugandans with limited land to embrace productive enterprises that can generate regular income instead of relying on crops that take long to mature. She particularly encouraged vegetables, bananas, poultry and other enterprises suited to small-scale commercial farming.

Her claims have since sparked debate online, with some Ugandans praising her as an example of commercial farming while others have questioned some of the figures she cited.

Official information about Nabbanja’s Kakumiro Model Farm confirms that the farm combines poultry, coffee, bananas, dairy and other enterprises under the government-backed Four-Acre Model. NARO previously reported that the farm was producing 266 trays of eggs daily and had capacity to produce more than 400,000 coffee seedlings annually.