The Government has started implementing a strategic plan aimed at accelerating household wealth creation in Bukedi sub-region.
The plan is designed to transform Bukedi sub-region — comprising Tororo, Butaleja, Busia, Butebo, Kibuku and Budaka districts — into a hub for coffee and cocoa cultivation.
According to the poverty index, the sub-region remains one of the poorest in the country.
The survey shows that Bukedi’s per capita income stands at just 43.7%, with a dismal gross domestic product per capita of sh488,800 annually per household, compared to the national average of sh4.2m.
To address this, the Government has launched the coffee and cocoa seedling multiplication hub at the District Agricultural Training and Information Centre in Budaka district.
With 2.5 million seedlings currently available and a potential capacity of 10 million annually, the hub is expected to serve thousands of peasant farmers in the sub-region.
Speaking at the launch, science and innovation minister Monica Musenero said the hub is part of a broader strategy initiated in 2022 to fight persistent poverty in Bukedi sub-region.
She said the region was once a cotton-growing zone, but the declining international prices forced households to dependon seasonal crops vulnerable to climate change.
“Establishment of the coffee and cocoa seedling hub herehas meant peasant farmers being able to access the seedling materials easily so that they can gradually transition from a subsistence economy to a money economy,” Musenero said.
Recognising Bukedi sub-region’s struggles, President Yoweri Museveni directed Musenero to create a think tank for the sub-region.
This led to the formation of the Bukedi Development Consortium, chaired by Dr James Kisaale, the advisor to the science and innovation minister.
The consortium proposed key value chain enterprises — coffee and cocoa growing, aquaculture and indigenous poultry — as practical solutions for lifting communities out of poverty.
Sector specialists have since joined the initiative.
Dr Geoffrey Arinaitwe, the director at the National Coffee Research Institute in Kituza, Mukono, said soil tests showed the sub-region is ideal for robusta coffee and cocoa cultivation.
“Observing a 3x3m planting dimension, each acre hosts 450 coffee trees. The varieties that we are providing mature in two years. Each mature tree yields about 3kg of beans. From an acre, a farmer can earn from at least a tonne of coffee,” Dr Arinaitwe said.
The strategy also includes promoting improved poultry rearing.
Dr Joshua Isiko, the team leader in the Productivity Acceleration Bureau, said farmers are being trained in best practices for enterprise growth.
“Using basic science knowledge, a farmer can now produce 1,800 indigenous chicken from five hens, annually,” Dr Isiko said.
Local farmers see results
Vicent Watolya, 70, of Iki-Iki, Budaka district, said: “I secured 400 coffee seedlings a few months ago and I am delighted they have since thrived.”
Cklenent Nonga, 72, has dedicated six acres to coffee and cocoa.
“I have planted three acres of each. Both crops have disproved my earlier doubts,” Nonga said.
