After enduring several transfers, Mr Edward Senkumba, 56, a former primary school teacher and headteacher of several schools in Luwero District, decided to quit teaching and venture into agriculture.
For decades, Senkumba endured a meagre pay of Shs300,000 as a classroom teacher and Shs600,000 as a headteacher because he was passionate about being around children. But frequent transfers forced him out.
“I qualified as a Grade III Mathematics and Science teacher in 1994. I taught for about 25 years before being promoted to headteacher, a position I held until 2008 when I resigned due to endless transfers. I could be transferred immediately after transforming a school. This hurt me so much that I had to quit. In 2011, I went to Nakaseke District and started my journey of farming in 2012,” says Senkumba who hails from Ndejje-Bombo in Luwero.
Before settling for agriculture, a friend connected him to a company in Kampala for a data clerk job.
Although promised Shs2 million monthly gross salary as data clerk, what he earned in six months as a teacher, he turned down the offer because he was expected to work throughout the week without leave.
He was also offered an opportunity to work in neighbouring Rwanda as a sports coach but his father advised him to try his luck in Uganda, advice he heeded.
Raised in a family whose livelihood depended on farming, he opted for agriculture.
“I settled in the middle of a jungle in Kakola Village, Kivumu Parish, Kitto Sub-county, Nakaseke District and people mistook me for a rebel because they didn’t expect an ordinary farmer to settle in the middle of a thick forest the way I did,” he says.
On arrival, he erected a tiny grass hut for accommodation and stored sacks for his produce.
At first, Senkumba grew maize and beans which he mainly exported to Kenya. During a good harvest, he exported between 3 to 4 tonnes of maize which fetched good money.
He later ventured into fruits, coffee, bananas and animal rearing, all on about 30 acres.
Today, Senkumba is treasured as one of the prominent coffee farmers in his sub-county.
He considers himself a millionaire and treasures self-employment, saying it has boosted his economic status and given him enough rest.
He commends stakeholders who walked with him, including Sasakawa Africa Association which offered knowledge in regenerative agriculture and a rainwater harvesting facility with capacity of 300,000 litres which he uses to irrigate crops during dry spells.
According to him, he has not felt the pinch of prolonged drought that farmers across the country grappled with between May and July 2026. His coffee farm remained green due to knowledge from community-based facilitators tasked to offer extension services to last-mile farmers.
“Water was always a challenge but since I got this facility, life became easier. I always irrigate my crops in the morning and evening during dry seasons, you can see how my coffee is doing well,” he says pointing at a coffee plant.
Ms Christine Kyomugisha, Senior Program Officer Climate Resilient and Agrifood Systems and Regenerative Agriculture at Sasakawa Africa Association, says one of association’s focus is strengthening climate resilient and agri-food systems and promoting regenerative practices to enable farmers withstand climate shocks.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) is partnering with Sasakawa to promote regenerative, organic and climate-smart systems to reverse soil degradation, improve yields and build resilience.
Core practices promoted include reduced tillage, keeping soil covered with residues or mulch, crop diversity and rotation, use of organic fertilizers, planting trees on farms, sustainable land management technologies, rainwater harvesting and drought resistant seeds.
“We are trying to build farmers’ resiliency in face of climate change to enable them continue producing during dry spells. Under annual crops, we promote drought tolerant varieties,” Kyomugisha explains.
“We encourage them to use biochar, a carbon rich material that improves soil structure and eases water and nutrient availability. We also train farmers to harvest rain water. We train them in digging trenches, making ridges to hold water in times of rain,” she adds.
Mr Robert Anyang, Country Director of Sasakawa Africa Association Uganda, says information about existing technologies should be taken to farmers instead of being shelved.
He however acknowledges ratio of extension worker to farmers in Uganda which stands at 1:8,000 remains a challenge.
Although some village agents had been trained, service delivery would stop as soon as donor support ended. To sustain public-private extension delivery, government partnered with Sasakawa to introduce Commercial Community Based Facilitators (CCBF).
“For last five years, we have been implementing CCBF model to improve access to extension services by last mile farmer. Before we intervene, we sit with sub-county extension workers and ask for challenges farmers face,” Anyang explains.
“We ask each farmer groups to find a person liked by community, able to move around villages, capable of managing 150 to 200 farmers. Selected individual is trained to become CCBF,” he adds.
“The CCBF must move out of their comfort zone to deliver services. They are not paid but we create incentives. We say if you work with farmers every season you will make 40 dollars profit. They deliver services at a fee,” he says.
He says two years ago when country experienced armyworm outbreak, it was agents who first saw it, took photos and shared with agronomists who alerted districts.
Ms Justine Nayiga Katushabe, a CCBF in Mubende, says she trains farmers in modern methods including planting using jab planter, a manual tool used to plant seeds and apply fertilizer concurrently without bending or tilling entire field.
Katushabe currently works with 20,000 farmers and 46 small agents.
“One of farmers I have worked with is Mr Solomon Zaake. I have worked with him for three years now. I found him a big farmer but he never knew size of land he owned. I had to measure his garden, it was 16 acres. This helped him know amount of seed and fertilizer needed,” she says.
“Last year he got 4 tonnes of maize. He has established a brooder at his home and is constructing structure that can accommodate over 20,000 birds,” she adds.
As white collar jobs become scarce, many Ugandans are turning to agriculture.
Available records indicate agriculture employs 65% to 70% of Uganda’s population and contributes roughly 24% to 26% to national GDP.
Initiatives such as Four-Acre Model promoted by President advising households to divide land into coffee (1 acre), fruits (1 acre), livestock pasture (1 acre) and food crops (1 acre), climate-smart agriculture promoted by Sasakawa and World Bank, Parish Development Model, and digital platforms for weather alerts and market pricing, show value government and partners attach to farming as tool for food security and employment.