By Joshua Kato
To profit from farming, a farmer must make the right choices regarding enterprises, location, market and the management of their business.
A number of crop enterprises will be profitable in 2025, based on their demand in 2024 and prices.
Bananas
At the 2025 Harvest Money Expo, growing bananas will be a widely discussed topic. The expo will be held on February 14-16.
Phillip Lubega of Philly Mixed Farm-Saayi in Saayi village, Ntenjeru sub-county in Mukono district, says the demand for matooke, which is a staple food in Kampala and other urban dwellings, will continue to grow as these urban communities expand.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, the per capita consumption of bananas is about 440kg per person per year in Uganda.
As the population grows, the required tonnage will increase.
Lubega explains that while the population is growing, creating continued demand, most farmers still use basic agronomic practices, which hinder production and productivity in banana plantations.
“The majority of the farmers I have visited in Kyaggwe county, where I oversee farming, as well as in other parts of the country like the western region, are still simply planting bananas without using fertilisers, managing pests or controlling diseases. This has led to plantations deteriorating quickly, resulting in decreased matooke production,” he explains.
Low matooke production, combined with the growing demand for it as a food source, has led to high prices.
During the festive season, a cluster of matooke sold for sh15,000, and a bunch could go for sh50,000 or more.
Washington Mugerwa, an urban banana farmer and trainer at the expo, says maintaining the plants is key to producing large bunches.
“You need to feed them well using both farm manure and, if possible, artificial fertilisers. This should be done at least three times during each rainy season,” he says.
With good agronomic practices, such as weeding, fertiliser use, pest and disease management, mulching plus irrigation, one can harvest a bunch weighing 60kg or more. To invest in an acre, you need at least sh2m to start.
If you target the first rains in March, you will harvest by the end of November, in time for Christmas.
Mushrooms
There is increased demand for mushrooms, influenced by innovations that have led to several products, such as powders for cosmetics, drinks, wines and samosas.
Abel Kiddu, one of Vision Group’s Best Farmers Competition winners and the director of the African Mushroom Farmers at Lufuma zone in Makindye, Kampala, explains that mushroom farming is a profi table venture requiring little capital to start.
Kiddu will train participants on mushroom growing during the expo.
“If you are growing mushrooms, the house can be made with timber or even papyrus, and the roof ng should be grass-thatched or covered with tarpaulins. It should be cool with high humidity, so you must water them two to three times a day, depending on the weather conditions,” he says.
In the house, mushrooms are placed on shelves made from wood.
“A 20ftx15ft house can be used to grow up to 1,000 gardens. This can require an initial capital investment of about sh4.5m, depending on your location. The house may cost about sh1.5m to construct, and the 1,000 gardens would cost about sh3m,” he says.
Kiddu adds that each garden produces 1.5g over a three-month production cycle. Thus, from a garden bought for sh3,000, you will earn sh7,500, with each kilogramme selling at sh5,000. For sustainable production, you must restock every month to ensure consistent production.
Soya bean and sunflower
The demand for soya beans will rise this year, driven by companies producing livestock feed concentrates locally. Soya is used to produce vegetable oil and livestock feed.
Annually, Uganda spends $370m (sh1.4b) on importing crude palm oil, refined sunflower oil, soya oil and olive oil. A farmer can expect to invest sh2m to sh3m for an acre of soya.
The average yield from the common varieties is three tonnes per acre when well taken care of. The price per kilogramme ranges between sh2,500 and sh3,000. This would give between sh7.5m and sh9m per acre.
Soya can be grown across most parts of the country, including the central region, the entire eastern region, the north and West Nile, Prof. Phinehas Tukamuhabwa from the School of Agricultural Sciences at Makerere University says.
“We have the seeds, and research is ongoing to develop even better seeds,” the Makerere University don adds.
Cassava
With innovations using cassava — such as breweries processing it into alcohol and baking — cassava is becoming highly demanded, as the market continues to grow.
Other than ngule and other brews, cassava is also processed into ethanol, an industrial chemical, and starch.
Ivan Balamaga Wasswa, a cassava farmer in Ngogwe, Buikwe district, explains that investing in growing cassava will be profitable this year because the demand is high at the household level and for making products like beer, baking bread and cakes, and poultry feed.
Wasswa says cassava is easier to grow than other crops, requiring less fertilisers and weeding. An acre will take 2,600 plants.
If you plant NAROCAS 1 or NAROCAS 2 and care for the plants well with good rains, three plants will produce a sack that can be sold for sh160,000. From 2,600 plants in an acre, you will get 86 sacks.
If sold at sh160,000 per sack on the farm, you will earn more than sh13m from an acre. However, if you sell the tubers in trading centres, each basin/heap can go for sh5,000- sh10,000.
Hass avocado
The Government, through the National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) under the agriculture ministry, has been promoting Hass avocado and macadamia as high-value crops for the last two years.
Khadijah Blessing Nakakande, the head of communications at the NAADS secretariat, says in 2022, the Government began promoting Hass avocado cultivation across the country as a high-value crop to tap into a growing global market.
“At the time, individual farms had already planted 3,300 acres. With the Government’s support, where farmers pay 30% of the cost of seedlings, more than 3,900 acres have been planted,” Nakakande says.
To ensure a good return on investment, five factories have been set up by private investors to extract oil and make products from the byproducts.
“To earn from Hass avocado, you don’t need to plant acres of it. Even with 10 trees, you can earn a living, as each tree can produce up to 300kg per year. If you sell at sh1,500 per kilogramme on average, you earn sh450,000 from each tree, which means sh4.5m from 10 trees,” she explains.
Cocoa
Cocoa farmers have seen significant gains this year. A kilogramme of fresh-wet cocoa seeds sells between sh10,000 and sh80,000, while well-dried seeds can fetch as much as sh360,000.
Joseph Mulindwa, a researcher with the National Coffee Resources Research Institute in Kituuza, Mukono, urges everyone in the cocoa production value chain to maintain the quality that has long attracted the market.
He also emphasises the need to increase production.
Top garden plants to grow
Passion fruit
During the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the recommendations for managing the disease was consuming fruit juice to boost immunity.
As a result, the demand for fruits, including passion fruits, shot up, and the prices for the crop have remained high.
A session on passion fruit growing will be held on February 23 facilitated by Bashir Mayiga, a passion fruit farmer and a 2016 Best Farmers Competition winner.
“If you plant an acre, you can earn as much as sh13m gross per month during the peak harvesting seasons,” he says.
James Kabiito, the director of the Greening Farming Centre at Lugolwemodde in Kyesikiga sub-county, Masaka district, explains that the market for passion fruits is strong, making it a worthwhile enterprise.
Kabiito says an acre will accommodate 700 passion plants, producing an average of five bags per week. If sold at a minimum of sh300,000 per sack, you will earn sh1.5m weekly and sh6m a month. After spending sh2m on managing the plantation, you will make sh4m in profit every month, and you can continue harvesting for a year.
Vegetables
Vegetable farming is an enterprise that people not only venture into for food security but also for quick profit. Many vegetables mature quickly, with some ready for harvest in 30 days.
Vegetables like amaranthus (dodo), nakati, cabbage, sukuma wiki, spinach, spring onions, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, caulifl ower, broccoli and lettuce all have markets.
Joseph Male, the director of Avail Faith Farm, a Best Farmers Competition winner and vegetable farming trainer, says vegetable farming is ideal for people with limited capital and space.
It is not capital-intensive and can be done in small spaces, yet offers a high return on investment.
Male will train attendees on vegetable farming during the expo. For example, with cabbage, which matures in about 65 days, each head can be sold for between sh400 and sh1,000.
An acre can produce about 12,000 heads, and if about 5,000 are sold at sh1,000, you will earn sh5m. If 1,000 are sold at sh800, you will earn sh800,000. If 2,500 are sold at sh400, you will earn sh1m. This means that from one acre, you could earn about sh6.8m.
However, there are also specialised vegetable varieties that have higher market prices. Those looking to make quick money should focus on varieties like spinach, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower and beetroot.
These vegetables grow faster, and within two to three months, they will be ready for harvest, providing a quick return on investment.
