Uganda’s Farmers Are Scaling Up with Support from dfcu Bank and the Best Farmers Platform
For over a decade, dfcu Bank has been shaping one of Uganda’s most important sectors: agriculture. Since 2014, through the Best Farmers Awards, delivered in partnership with Vision Group, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, and Koudijs Animal Nutrition, the Bank has done more than recognise excellence, it has built a platform for transformation.
More than 130 farmers have been awarded for achievements in productivity, sustainability, record-keeping, and agribusiness management, with winners gaining exposure to global best practices through study visits to the Netherlands.
With additional support from Rabobank, dfcu Bank established Uganda’s first dedicated agribusiness unit under the dfcu Foundation to close financing gaps, strengthen agricultural value chains, and unlock growth for both smallholder and large-scale farmers. The ambition is to reach over 100,000 farmers with access to capital, markets, infrastructure, and technical expertise, positioning agriculture as a driver of national economic growth.
This shift is reflected in the journey of Zubairi Mukaaya, founder of Bakuseka Majja Farm in Kamuli District.
Raised in a farming family, Zubairi witnessed firsthand the limitations of traditional agriculture. His father’s coffee yields suffered from poor soil fertility due to limited access to manure, a challenge that later shaped his approach to farming.
In 2007, he began with 100 chickens through the NAADS programme. What started as a small poultry venture grew steadily through discipline and reinvestment, reaching 1,000 birds within a few years. By using poultry waste as manure, he restored soil fertility in coffee fields, improving yields and stabilising income.
He went on to expand into cassava, maize, and fish farming, building an integrated system where each enterprise supports the other. This approach reduced waste, diversified risk, and improved overall productivity.
Today, Bakuseka Majja Farm operates at a significant commercial scale. Zubairi manages close to 20,000 mudfish in ponds, maintains 2,000 parent stock layers, and runs up to 20,000 broiler chickens at any given time, with the capacity to supply up to 40,000 chickens during peak seasons.
His role has also evolved beyond production. Zubairi trains farmers across Kamuli, Jinja, Kayunga, Buyende, and Buwenge, using radio platforms and on-farm demonstrations to share practical knowledge on modern farming. Farmers regularly visit his farm for incubation services and guidance on improving their own operations.
After learning about the dfcu Bank Best Farmers Awards in 2024, Zubairi took the step to formally document his work and apply in 2025. When judges visited, they found a highly organised operation, from structured record-keeping to modern incubation systems capable of handling thousands of chicks, as well as surveillance-supported fish farming. The scale, efficiency, and business orientation of the farm led to his recognition as Best Farmer for Eastern Uganda in 2025.
The recognition created new momentum for growth. Zubairi reinvested in his enterprise by constructing a poultry house with a capacity of 20,000 birds, financed through coffee revenues, while additional support from the awards, including UGX 7 million in farm feed, further strengthened his production capacity.
His journey is also influencing how agriculture is perceived within his own family and community. By involving his children, an engineering graduate and a midwife, in the business, he is demonstrating that farming can be a structured, profitable, and modern enterprise.
Through stories like Zubairi’s, dfcu Bank continues to enable a shift in Uganda’s agricultural sector, from subsistence practices to scalable agribusiness, and from isolated efforts to more connected and sustainable systems that contribute meaningfully to economic growth.
