By David Mwanje
Uganda’s agriculture sector continues to expand, with industry players pointing to growing opportunities for wealth creation through farming. With agriculture contributing about 26 percent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product and employing nearly 68 percent of the workforce, analysts say idle land represents a missed economic opportunity.
Figures from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) show agriculture contributed between 26.1 and 26.5 percent of GDP in the financial year 2024–2025, up from 24.1 percent the previous year. The sector also accounts for 35 to 36 percent of Uganda’s export earnings and recorded 5.1 percent growth in the 2023–2024 financial year.
Coffee remains Uganda’s leading export crop. During the 2024–2025 coffee year, the country exported about 8.2 million bags valued at 2.3 billion dollars, the highest level recorded so far.
Government officials say commercial agriculture remains central to Uganda’s economic plans. Agriculture Minister Frank K Tumwebaze has urged Ugandans to make productive use of available land. Speaking at the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme summit in January 2025, he said the coming years would be important for Africa’s agricultural sector.
In November 2025, while commenting on the country’s coffee export performance, Tumwebaze encouraged Ugandans with idle land to invest in coffee growing, saying the crop continues to offer strong returns.
Government programmes under the National Development Plan and other agricultural initiatives have expanded support to farmers. Through the National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) programme, millions of improved seedlings have been distributed across the country, including more than 20 million cocoa seedlings in recent years. Authorities have also revived crops such as cashew nuts in the cattle corridor and supported value addition facilities such as the Teso fruit juice processing plant.
Private sector companies are also investing in the sector. Greening Uganda, an agroforestry investment company, has identified 17 commercial ventures it says offer viable returns while supporting environmental conservation.
The ventures include Hass avocado, clonal Robusta coffee varieties resistant to coffee wilt disease, cocoa, tropical apples, passion fruit, pineapples and ginger. Other crops include mangoes, gonja, cashew nuts, macadamia, dragon fruit, citrus fruits and guava.
The company also promotes commercial timber species such as clonal eucalyptus and Melia as long-term investments.
According to Greening Uganda, passion fruit farming can generate between five and seven million shillings per acre monthly under good management, while ginger can deliver about 21 million shillings per acre within nine months. Pineapple farming can earn about 13 million shillings per acre at first harvest.
The company says it has distributed more than 10 million certified seedlings across Uganda over the past six years. It also supports farmers with business planning, cost benefit analysis and access to titled agricultural land in districts including Mityana, Mubende and Hoima.
Agriculture analysts say rising global demand for fruits, coffee and tree crops continues to create opportunities for Uganda, particularly as climate-smart farming and agroforestry attract new investors.
