While livestock farming has traditionally been the source of livelihood for a bigger percentage of the households in cattle corridor districts like Sembabule, Kiruhura and Gomba, the integration of coffee farming has boosted incomes of many families. The sight of large acreage of freshly planted coffee plantations at former ranchlands through the sub-counties of Nabitanga, Ntuusi and Mateete, among other areas, explains the sudden shift in the economic setup in the cattle corridor area of Sembabule District.
The coffee gardens, according to a section of the farmers, are not totally replacing the cattle and goat rearing projects that defined their way of life, but slowly reshaping and giving fresh hope to many households. Mr Joseph Basiima, a farmer and resident of Nabitanga Sub-county in Sembabule District, says the first harvest from his two-year-old two-acre coffee garden helped him successfully clear all the his children’s school dues without selling any of the cows and goats at his farm.
‘For the first time as a parent, I did not debate about how many cows and goats to be sold at the farm for the school fees, among other family basics. I have now planted more than four acres of coffee,’ he says. Mr Basiima, like many other livestock farmers in Sembabule District had for many years resisted venturing into coffee farming despite visiting several farmers who had integrated coffee farming into their respective farm projects.
‘One prominent farmer in our sub- county, Mr Paul Ssembeguya, who practices mixed farming, convinced me to plant some coffee on my farm. I tried to resist, but he offered me his farm truck to transport coffee seedlings since I already had the land to plant the coffee. He also offered the initial farming tips and challenged me to keep a keen eye on the new coffee farm. The pioneer harvest was a game changer,’ he reminisces. According to Ms Kellen Nuwayombeka, the Gomba District councillor representing Maddu Town Council, farmers in the area are increasingly embracing coffee growing, which has led to a surge in prices of seedlings.
‘Previously, our people did not grow coffee, sticking with the tradition of cattle keeping, but many are now growing it at a large scale because they have a lot of land,’ she says. Currently, a single coffee seedling costs between Shs2,500 and Shs3,000, from between Shs1,500 and Shs2,000 and getting seedlings in existing nursery beds has become difficult. ‘This has forced farmers to make orders from Bukomansimbi and Masaka,’ she adds.
Model farmer
Coffee farming, according to the Sembabule District officials, has sustained many livelihoods in parts of the district, but farmers are encouraged to adapt to modern farming systems that match the new climate change challenge and market demands. At Kakinga Village, Sembabule District a 200-acre model coffee farm was established, where more than 70 people make up the work-force. Owned by Mr Ssembeguya, it is part of the inspirational coffee success stories in the district and acts as a demonstration farm for fertigation, a gardening practice helping coffee farmers to reinforce the soil nutrient through organic based practices.
Sembabule District falls within the cattle corridor and is prone to long dry spells that necessitate extra care for the coffee plants. To keep the soils moist with additional natural nutrients, Mr Ssembeguya advises farmers to collect the animal dung and pack it in loosely aerated bags. These are placed at least half a meter off the coffee plant. ‘The practice is fertigation and water is frequently added on to the bags, while keeping the soils moist and partly protected from direct or extra sun heat,’ he explains.
Mr Anthony Katamba, a livestock farmer in Ntuusi Sub-county with a freshly planted four-acre coffee garden, was amazed after a harvest of more than 3,000 kilogrammes of fresh coffee beans earned him about Shs13m in a single season. ‘This was a big surprise and we decided to add four more acres of the coffee because we had the extra land on our farm. Coffee is the new source of income.
For that single season, we did not sell any of our animals to pay the children’s school fees,’ he says. He adds that after learning about the fertigation method, the water that traditionally watered the animals at the nearby water dam is boosting the irrigation process for the coffee family project.
Better yields
According to the 2024 National Population and Housing Census statistics, Sembabule District has 305,971 people, with agriculture accounting for more than 85 percent of the economic activities in the cattle corridor districts. Mr Patrick Nkalubo, the Sembabule District chairperson believes that the coffee industry has a bright future because the farmers are adapting to the modern farming practices and now making use of the water resources to irrigate the coffee farms.
‘We advise our farmers to adapt to the new farming technologies,’ he says. Uganda has recently recorded higher coffee export volumes rising from 558,382, 60 kilogramme bags to 569,454 60-kilogramme bags between January 2025 and January 2026. On a monthly basis, coffee export earnings increased, from $161m in December 2025 to $161m in January 2026, according to the Finance ministry performance of the economy report for February 2026.
Sembabule is one of the districts in central Uganda with vast land occupied by mostly cattle keepers. However, some parts of the district such as Mateete and Mabindo have fertile soils, which have aided farming on a larger scale. The recent tarmacking of the main road connecting Masaka and Gomba districts has attracted many people looking for land for cultivation. Due to increasing demand for land, hundreds of squatters have encroached on government ranches. Other unscrupulous individuals have also claimed plots of land where Bigo bya Mugenyi, a historical cultural site of the Chwezi Dynasty, is located in Ntuusi Sub-county.