MUBENDE: For more than a decade now, Frank Nyanzi, a 57-year-old coffee farmer from Madudu Sub-county in Mubende District, has battled with declining yields; something he largely attributes to climate change.
Prolonged dry spells, rising temperatures, and persistent pest and disease outbreaks, particularly the coffee wilt disease and coffee berry borer beetles, have steadily reduced his harvests and household income.
In spite of repeated efforts to improve his farming practices, a once dependable source of livelihood has gradually turned into a source of frustration and financial strain.
Nyanzi said, “We have been trying our best to manage our farms, but we have been limited by a lack of long-term, reliable financing. We have struggled to access important investments like irrigation systems and often end up buying substandard inputs.”
On Monday, February 23, Stanbic Bank Uganda and the Buganda Kingdom officially launched Ssemaduuka, a one-stop agricultural business centre aimed at expanding access to structured credit, strengthening SACCOs, and formalising coffee value chains across the Kingdom.
The main focus of the partnership is helping people like Frank Nyanzi. Implemented through the Buganda Cultural and Development Foundation (BUCADEF), Ssemaduuka involves a coordinated ecosystem linking farmer SACCOs to financing, farm inputs, aggregation centres, digital payments, and export markets.
Speaking during the launch at the Mayors Gardens in Mubende Municipality, Tunde Thorpe, Head of Business and Commercial Banking at Stanbic Bank described Ssemaduuka as a shift from fragmented agricultural support to a structured economic partnership.
He said, “Ssemaduuka allows us to finance the entire value chain from inputs to export. It strengthens SACCO governance, improves farmer productivity, formalises payments, and expands access to markets. This is ecosystem banking designed to deliver measurable impact.”
Robert Waggwa Nsibirwa, the Second Deputy Premier (Katikkiro) and Minister for Finance, Investments, Planning and Economic Development in the Buganda Kingdom, described Ssemaduuka as a transformative step toward strengthening household incomes and modernising agriculture across the Kingdom.
“Wealth will not find you in your house; it finds you in the garden. Agriculture is the backbone of our people’s prosperity, and through initiatives like this, we are not just establishing a structure here in Buwekula, but we are planting a future where every household is self-reliant,” Nsibirwa said.
He advised residents to embrace the initiative, noting that it aligns with the Kingdom’s vision of transitioning farmers from subsistence production to sustainable agribusiness.
Ssemaduuka aligns with Stanbic’s Positive Impact Agenda, which focuses on women, youth, and farmers through financial inclusion, enterprise-led job creation, infrastructure strengthening, climate resilience, and corporate philanthropy.
Research data shows that over 70 percent of PEWOSA SACCO members are women, reinforcing the initiative’s role in advancing women-led enterprises and inclusive growth.
For farmers like Nyanzi, the structured approach brings renewed optimism. “With better access to quality inputs, organised markets, and financing, I believe we can recover and grow again,” he said.
The launch comes as Stanbic Bank Uganda approaches 35 years in 2026 as part of Uganda’s growth journey, guided by its purpose: ‘Uganda is our home, we drive her growth’.
Crops like coffee remain a backbone of Uganda’s rural economy, supporting thousands of families whose livelihoods have increasingly been threatened by climate change, pests, diseases, and limited access to affordable financing.
Through Ssemaduuka, Stanbic Bank and the Buganda Kingdom aim to transform coffee farming from a vulnerable subsistence activity into a resilient, commercially viable enterprise offering farmers like Nyanzi a more secure and profitable future.
Emmanuel Naigombe, Head of Agribusiness at Stanbic Bank said under the new model, BUCADEF will recommend qualifying SACCOs for banking support, after which the bank will assess and extend structured credit facilities.
“Farmers will access inputs through Masaza stores, and produce will be aggregated and linked to organised buyers,” Naigombe said.
He said transactions will be digitized via Stanbic’s One Farm platform to enable trade finance solutions that support export flows.
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