Women in agrifood systems in Uganda

Backgrounder

Introduction

Agrifood systems are agricultural value chain activities of growing, harvesting, processing, packaging, transporting, distributing, trading, buying, preparing, eating food and disposing its waste.

When discussing any aspect of the agrifood system, it is important to consider: gender division of labour; control over resources and assets, including income; decision-making power; time use and unpaid care work; gender positioning in the value chain. In Uganda, women provide much of the labour to grow and harvest food. But men dominate the marketing of yields because of the money they get from such activities (Gender division of labour). Additionally, women dominate production and informal trade, while men dominate production of high-value crops and high-value processing (Position along the value chain).

Why is this subject important to listeners?

• The performance of the agrifood system is directly tied to women’s productivity. Women make up the majority of the agricultural labor force. They dominate small-scale farming, which produces most of the country’s food. National food output could be increased if some of the constraints facing women – such as access to land, inputs, and finance – were addressed.
• Women are primarily responsible for household food production, food preparation, and decisions concerning nutrition, all of which are linked to food and nutrition security.
• There is untapped economic potential in the agrifood system, as women are heavily concentrated in low-value farming and informal trade. They are underrepresented in processing, agribusiness services, and high-value markets
• There is a financial inclusion and credit gap. Women are active in savings groups, show strong repayment behavior, yet have limited access to formal credit. This creates a major inefficiency in the financial system. Addressing this can improve investment in agriculture, growth of rural enterprises, and stability of financial institutions.
• Listening to women in Uganda’s agrifood systems is important because it leads to better policies, stronger food systems, improved livelihoods, and more equitable development. When their voices are excluded, the entire system becomes less efficient and less fair.

 

 

Ugandan women in agrifood systems should know:

• agrifood systems opportunities that exist at various agricultural production stages.
• how to be involved in agrifood systems at their level of agricultural production.
• the potential agrifood systems have to empower them within their communities.
• how to organize themselves to be involved in agrifood systems value chain.
• the potential of agrifood systems to improve their economic livelihoods.
• challenges that exist in agrifood systems and how to minimize them.
• the skills needed at every stage of agricultural production.
• the impact of climate change to agrifood systems.
• how to run successful and business viable village processing enterprises.
• where to get the relevant certifications and licences needed to run village-based food processing enterprises.

 

What are some key facts of Uganda women in agrifood systems?

Uganda’s agricultural sector employs about 70% of Uganda’s labour force, more than 70% of whom are women, primarily engaged in rearing small ruminants and crop production. Ugandan women provide about 60% of labour in legumes, tuber, and roots farming.

Some Ugandan agricultural cooperatives that predominantly serve women also facilitate them to buy inputs, market their yields, and get loans.

Women’s farmer groups in Uganda do not need to start from scratch—there is an ecosystem of institutions that can help them to learn processing skills, meet market standards, build profitable village-level enterprises. Key institutions supporting women in agro-processing include:

• Uganda Industrial Research Institute (UIRI) focusing on turning farmer groups into small-scale processors,
• Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS), critical for groups that want to enter formal markets,
• aBi Development Ltd, providing financing to farmer organizations, and small and medium enterprises,
• TechnoServe, supports farmers, cooperatives, and processors.

In Uganda, women have a better loan repayment performance than men, but are considered less creditworthy by formal financial systems because they often lack collateral, records, and data integration. This means that women are bankable in practice, but need credit models based on cash flow, not collateral. They would also benefit if the data from savings groups (village savings and loans associations and SACCOs) were integrated into the formal credit system, and generally would benefit from digital financial inclusion.

Predicted impact of climate change on Ugandan women in agrifood systems

Ugandan women face greater risk and carry a heavy burden in adapting to climate change compared to men. Yet women may be less likely to understand how climate related hazards affect agricultural productivity. Women may be more likely to use drought and seasonal weather forecasts since it helps them to raise sheep, goats, and chicken.

Women can adapt to climate change at the farm-level through crop diversification, soil and water management, and agroforestry. They can adapt at the livelihood level by diversifying income sources, becoming active in agro-processing, and launching small enterprises. They can also adapt at the social and institutional level with their savings groups, cooperatives, and general knowledge sharing.

Women in agrifood systems are adapting to climate change through a combination of innovation and resilience: blending traditional knowledge with modern climate-smart practices. They are using collective action to overcome resource constraints and diversifying livelihoods to manage risk. However, these strategies are often small-scale and constrained by limited access to finance, land, and technology—meaning their full potential is not yet realized.

 

What are the big challenges of Ugandan women in agrifood systems?

Women in Uganda’s agrifood systems face resource constraints (land, finance, inputs), structural barriers (norms, institutions), market limitations (access, pricing, value chains) and emerging risks (climate change, digital divide). As a result, women do most of the work but capture less of the value.

• Only 16% of women have land registered under their names, yet they provide over 70% of agricultural labour. This means that women cannot use land as collateral to secure loans to farm independently.
• Unequal access to credit facilities prevents many Ugandan women from going into agricultural processing and value addition.
• Only about 16% of all agricultural small and medium enterprises in Uganda are owned by women, and women representation in their leadership is low. Yet there are more than 5.7 million women employed in the sector, and women are more than half of Uganda’s agricultural workforce.
• They lack access to labour saving agricultural technologies needed for farming crops.
• Women are the primary custodians of seeds, but they lack access to quality seeds and there are often fake seeds circulating in the market.
• If women are not able to control the financial benefit from yields, they may be unmotivated to increase crop yields.
• In Uganda, women farmers are more likely to manage land prone to floods, landslides, degradation, and erosion.
• Low access to finances prevents women from purchasing soil-replenishing inputs.
• Agricultural extension services often reach men more than women. Training schedules may not fit women’s workloads.
• Women carry a heavy unpaid workload (known as “time poverty”). They juggle farming, household chores, childcare, collecting water and firewood – leaving less time for growing their business, training, and participating in market activities.
• Cultural and social norms mean that in many places decision-making is dominated by men, with women facing restrictions on mobility and leadership. Gender roles can limit the growth of women-led businesses.
• Women are underrepresented in the leadership of cooperatives’ leadership, agribusiness networks, and policy-making spaces.

 

Key information about Ugandan women’s involvement in agrifood systems

The following sections include a variety of tips and case studies. Use this information to learn more about the topic before talking to farmers, development agents, and farmers groups to see if similar successes are taking place in your community, or whether women are facing similar challenges in your area. Or, share these success stories as a “Did you know?” radio spot. Finally, you could try to reach out to the people mentioned in these stories to share updated information on where their success has taken them.

 

Importance of farmers’ groups for women farmers

• Farmers groups can help members negotiate better prices or access credit to buy inputs, like seeds and fertilizers, and technologies, like drip irrigation kits, or solar dryers and coolers.
• Table banking and other schemes can help members collectively save money and distribute loans with low interest rates, so that women have access to funds for household or business needs.
• Women farming groups can more easily access loans from formal financial institutions.
• After harvests, farming groups can bulk their harvest and more easily find buyers, who might be looking to purchase large quantities. The group may also be able to negotiate a better price, compared to when women sell individually.
• Women farmers’ groups can collectively plan and look for markets in advance and plant crops that will be in demand that season.
• Farmer groups may be better able to access training, and the group provides an opportunity for members to share what they have learned, ask questions of each other, and generally support each other in learning and improving their farms.
• Farmer groups can strengthen social support, reducing isolation and leading to stronger community ties. It is also a place for increased voice and leadership. Farmer groups or savings groups provide a platform for women to organize, advocate, and influence policies. They help women participate in local and national decision-making processes.

 

Opportunities for Ugandan women in agrifood systems

The agrifood system value chain has opportunities that Ugandan women can be engaged in to economically benefit themselves and their households. The agricultural value chain comprises inputs, farm management, harvesting, and post-harvest management, processing and marketing.  Here are some success stories of women in the agri-food system in Uganda.

Inputs

In Uganda, lack of access to quality seeds causes low crop yields, thereby resulting in food insecurity, and worsening poverty levels among women small-scale farmers. But when they access improved seeds’ varieties, yields improve. In the Teso region, access to improved Serenut 14R groundnut seed variety helped a group of women to increase their yields. In 2024, Paulina Apolot harvested 40 bags of groundnuts from her five acres of land, her highest yield ever.

Ugandan soils have low organic matter and fertilizer is not heavily applied on lands of female headed households. But when fertilizer is properly applied combined with good agronomic practices, yields increase. Doreen Nansasi, a farmer from Kito, Central Uganda, increased her maize and bean yields by 60% using a locally-blended fertilizer.

One women-led enterprise is leading the way in agro-inputs and advisory services. Agrifarm Uganda was founded by Agnes Mbabazi. Ms. Mbabazi has many years of experience and training in agriculture and agribusiness, working at the corporate level, but she started her own enterprise and now fully manages Agrifarm Uganda. Today they import and distribute fertilizers, improved seeds, and crop protection products. They also provide farmer training, technical support, and market linkage facilitation. It has reached more than 100,000 small-scale farmers in 40 districts.

Beans are one of the staple foods in Uganda, and have recently become a cash crop. But many bean farmers are facing challenges from pests and diseases, which threaten their food security and income. Nabajja Jema is fighting these challenges, using quality seeds and pesticides to ensure a good harvest, healthy diet, and good income. She says, “Pests and diseases are a serious problem. When you are planting beans for sale, you have to take diseases into consideration.” Mrs. Jema puts money aside every season to buy good seed and pesticides from certified suppliers.  She believes that without seed and pesticides, a farmer who plans to sell her harvest will not make a profit.

Anna Okeng farms in Kulu Ingatu village, in Uganda’s Oyam District. She grows improved cassava varieties and has enjoyed the benefits. The 45-year-old says, “This season I have planted one hectare of NASE 14 because it is resistant to cassava mosaic disease.” Mrs. Okeng is happy to grow improved varieties, which she usually gets from fellow farmers in her neighbourhood. She says cassava farming has helped her pay school fees for her children.

 

Farm management

Adopting better agronomic practices can improve farm yields and incomes. Grainpulse Limited and the International Finance Corporation partnered to train over 1,200 Ugandan women on good agricultural practices like fertilizer application and pest management. That resulted in the women farmers increasing their productivity and tripling their crop sales income to $7.7 million US.

Ugandan farmer and mother of 14, Josephine Nalwadda, was trained on effective planning, budgeting, and recordkeeping, which has improved her family’s income. Mrs. Nalwadda grows coffee in Kibali, a village about 55 kilometres from Kampala, Uganda. Thanks to her training in financial literacy, she now saves money with a co-operative and keeps records for her local village savings association. She’s using her new savings to buy land and finish constructing a new house.

In northern Uganda’s Pader district, Women of the Pader Shea Nut and Agro-processing Society collect seedlings from their nursery for transplanting in an effort to restore Uganda’s shea parklands. Since 2004, the cooperative has rehabilitated over 500 hectares, integrating shea trees with maize and sunflower crops. Cooperative leader Sarah Norah says, “Our hope is to achieve more income for our people.” Despite challenges in reaching larger markets, the cooperative now boasts over 1,400 members, driving post-conflict recovery and economic empowerment.

Some basic farm management practices Ugandan women in agrifood systems can adopt include:

• At the onset of rains, prepare the land by tilling it three to four weeks before planting.
• Apply manure or compost during land preparation or after planting.
• Remove the weeds after tilling to stop them from re-rooting or their seeds sprouting.
• After planting, monitor the growing crops for weeds, diseases, and pests.
• Spray for pests, diseases and weed the farm routinely.
• After the crops mature, harvest promptly to avoid spoilage or pest infestation.
• In regions where rains are scarce, women farmers’ groups can pool funds and buy irrigation kits to use to water their crops.

 

Value addition

Ugandan women farmers can form village-based processing groups and engage in value addition after harvests. Value addition increases the shelf life of perishable horticultural crops, and increases farmers’ incomes by selling them processed, instead of raw form.

Uganda Industrial Research Institute (UIRI) trained 24 western Ugandan women to process milk into ghee, yoghurt, butter, cheese, ice cream, and cosmetics to diversify their incomes. Later, the men supported them to get a loan for building a mini-factory for properly and safely handling, processing, and packaging their products. That broke the taboo of women not working outside their homes.

Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, in collaboration with Community Basket Food International (CFBI), have trained farmers from western Uganda to turn finger millet and sorghum grains into profitable, nutrient-rich composite flours. This locally-managed value addition activity is creating new opportunities for both income and nutrition.

In 1996, Julian Omalla founded Delight Uganda Limited, Uganda’s largest juice processing factory that employs over 400 people, and has an annual turnover of $4 million. Before launching this business, she sold fruits at the market with a wheelbarrow. Today, her company processes organic, high-quality mango, guava and lemon juices from fruits grown in its 1700-acre orchard in Northern Uganda. Food and cash crops are intercropped in the orchard to boost food security and incomes of the local communities. By 2021, Delight Uganda Limited had cornered 45% of Uganda’s juice market. Omalla, through the Delight Farm Institute, has also trained 9,800 women to raise fruit tree seedlings, intercrop and post-harvest activities. The trainees then supply fruits to Delight Uganda Limited that are processed guaranteeing them sustainable incomes.

With €700 ($820 US), Lovin Kobusingye founded Kati Farms,  a fish processing enterprise in 2011 aiming to cut fish losses and wastage. Her company sources raw tilapia and catfish from more than 1,000 fish farmers. The company processes the fish into sausages, powder, cubes, cookies, oil, biscuits, fillets, fingers loins, snacks, and fish meal for pets, and salted and dried fish. Kati Farms value added fish products are sold at Ugandan supermarkets, restaurants and street vendors. By 2017, Kati Farms was valued at €350,000 ($410,000 US), and had 38 employees, including 28 women, but another 500 people were indirectly employed as delivery staff and street vendors selling the fish products. Before establishing Kati Farms, Mrs. Kobusingye sought technical training on fish-based value addition from Uganda’s Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries in 2011. She later received support from Uganda Industrial Research Institute, using their equipment to test new ideas.

In Oyam district, Uganda, cassava farmers are harvesting their crop and processing it into high quality cassava flour rather than simply selling raw cassava. Joyce Otim says high quality cassava flour sells at four times the price of fresh, raw cassava. In 2020, Mrs. Otim was one of the farmers who are training other women to produce high quality cassava flour with small-scale cassava processing machines. High quality cassava flour is made from unfermented flour and involves a number of steps, including peeling, washing, grating, pressing, drying, milling, and sifting the cassava.

Marketing and income diversification

In 2021, 700 women from Mityana, Uganda, increased their farming incomes after aggregating their maize to meet the demand of a large poultry enterprise. They also increased their personal savings from less than a dollar to $8 US. The Mityana Women Maize Farmers’ cooperative was established in July 2022 and supports women to launch and grow profitable, sustainable enterprises.

Linet Nalugo Musana first received orange-fleshed sweet potato vines from a local non-governmental organization called Volunteer Efforts for Development Concerns, or VEDCO. But she got the knowledge and skills to grow the new kind of potato by listening to agricultural radio programs on Radio Simba and CBS FM in 2018. Both stations broadcast programs that specifically target orange-fleshed sweet potato farmers, sharing advice on planting methods, pest control, and using herbicides. Mrs Musana planted up to six acres every year, and earned up to three million Ugandan shillings ($803 US), much more than from other potatoes. She also found new buyers by listening to the radio, selling 45 kilograms each week to Uganda Cancer Institute.

In Atek village in Kole district, about 400 kilometres north of Kampala, members of Par-Pi Anyim women’s group grow seedlings to generate additional income and improve their local environment. The group was established in 2002, and in 2019 it had 30 members and a one-and-a-half acre piece of land. The women learned about the business of raising and selling tree seedlings in 2001 through an organization called Canadian Physician for Aids and Relief, or CPAR, that supports persons living with HIV. The group members raise various kinds of seedlings, including pines, eucalyptus, oranges, and mangoes. The prices for seedlings range from 1,000 to 5,000 Uganda shillings ($0.27–1.35 US).

After harvesting, the biggest challenges farmers face is marketing, especially if the crop is perishable or there is an oversupply. Some tips for Ugandan women to effectively market their produce :

• Scout for potential markets before planting at the beginning of the season.
• Collectively bulk their harvested produce to sell to high demand markets.
• Stock non-perishable produce like dry grains and wait for market prices to rise. If doing this, invest in post-harvest technologies to avoid spoilage.
• Sell as a group to increase bargaining power with middlemen and brokers while selling their crop produce.
• Form cottage processing groups that can access loans and market their value-added produce.

For related information, read Farm Radio International’s backgrounder on Women’s roles in marketing farm produce, which is focused on the Ghanaian context.

 

Support for Ugandan women in agrifood systems

Training

The Ugandan chapter of African Women in Processing (AWIP) supports women to scale up small cottage industries into formal enterprises by providing equipment, training, and factory space.

African Women Agribusiness Network Uganda supports women-led enterprises with skills, finance access, and market linkages.

Guzakuza Women in Agribusiness Association promotes women-led agribusiness growth through networking, training, and mentorship.

Flexible lending can boost the growth of women led agrifood enterprises. Aceli Africa partners with savings groups (SACCOs) in Uganda and Kenya, so that they lend to small and medium agriculture enterprises run by women.

Government development programs

The government’s Parish Development Model (PDM) is a multi-sectoral approach to ensuring that every Ugandan actively participates in the formal economy. As such, the parish is the lowest administrative and operational hub for planning. One goal is to promote financial inclusion through the Parish Revolving Fund and SACCOs, as well as strengthening agricultural productivity and commercialization. In farming, under the guidance of agricultural experts, each parish selects projects that can increase their incomes. They get better livestock breeds for meat and milk, or grow high value crops or be engaged in value addition. In Kiryandongo District, PDM helped rice farming women increase their households’ income by 450% and created 200 local jobs after they established a rice processing facility. Florence Nabutono received a loan of 1 million Uganda shillings ($269 US) from a PDM SACCO. She used the loan to buy a pig that gave birth to piglets, that she sold and paid school fees, and diversified into a thriving poultry farming enterprise. Impressed by her poultry enterprise the Ugandan president gave her an additional 10 million Uganda shillings ($2,685 US) for purchasing heifers for milk production.

Operation Wealth Creation (OWC) is a government program launched in 2013 to mobilize Ugandans engage in commercial agricultural, including training for small-scale farmers and supporting local enterprise development. In 2026, OWC also donated Ugandan shillings 8 million ($2,150 US) to boost a SACCO for women in to informal food produce trade, and poultry farming at Laroo–Pece Division. In Lira district, a group with 15 women received two heifers from Uganda’s National Agricultural Advisory Services Programme (NAADS). The heifers give them 20 liters of milk daily, and they sell a liter for 1,500 – 2,000 Ugandan shillings ($0.40 – $0.54 US). Yearly manure from the heifers earns them an extra 1 million Ugandan shilling ($269 US).

Rural finance programs

In Uganda, subsistence farming depends heavily on inputs such as seeds, fertilizer, and pesticides. With access to rural finance programs, farmers can access more and better inputs, including improved and certified seeds. Yet in Uganda, women face more barriers in accessing loans compared to men. In Karamoja region, Betty Nakut, a mother of four, is in a village savings group where they pool funds with other women. These funds have allowed her to educate her children and grow more nutritious and profitable crops, like iron-rich beans. Young female farmers can also access loans from Simbuka and boost their farming activities into viable agri-businesses. In 2024, 600 female youth received  34,960 Uganda shillings ($9.35 US) for 100 weeks to grow their budding farming enterprises.

Agricultural extension

In Uganda, agricultural extension services often reach men more than women. But the tide is changing as more women are becoming extension officers. Margret, a mother of four, helps train men and women on agronomic practices such as pest and disease control, planting techniques, composting, pesticide application, and post-harvest produce handling. She trains five farmer groups with over 100 farmers. In Lamwo district, Uganda agricultural extension officers trained majority of women on resilient planting techniques, pest control, and post-harvest handling. As a result, there was an increase in crop yields, and empowered the women to be community trainers, which boosted food security.