Banana processing

The investment case for the banana sector focuses on unlocking significant value addition potential. Despite high production levels—over 13 million tonnes annually—banana exports remain low, resulting in substantial surplus. Moreover, most farmers leave banana pseudo-stems in the fields after harvest, missing opportunities to convert them into valuable products such as ethanol and banana fibre. To capitalize on this surplus and address the low level of value addition, proposed interventions aim to reduce post-harvest losses by establishing processing facilities in four zones. These facilities will produce banana juice and include dedicated lines for processing banana fibre and ethanol. Annual production targets include over 3,600 litres of banana juice, 179,550 kilograms of banana fibre, and 1,154,250 litres of ethanol. The total investment is estimated at USD 52 million including the government commitment to supporting this investment by providing land, and establishing necessary infrastructure, valued at USD 2.5 million. The investment gap open for private sector financing of USD 49 million is expected to yield an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 30.4 %, benefiting 1 million workers and suppliers.

One-stop inputs & mechanisation centres

Uganda’s maize sector faces major challenges that limit productivity and profitability, particularly due to the high cost of inputs such as seeds and agrochemicals. Although demand for maize seeds exceeds 8,000 tonnes annually, input quality remains low, largely due to weak regulatory enforcement, poor quality control, and inadequate storage and handling practices. Additional constraints include limited access to support services, high machinery costs, and a shortage of technical skills among producers. To address these issues, there is a need to restructure the agro-input distribution system and expand mechanization services. Investments will focus on two key areas: inputs such as seeds, fertilizers, and agrochemicals, and machinery and equipment. The first set of interventions will enhance regulatory inspections by the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) and support the development of large-scale seed and input storage facilities. The second will increase the availability of farm equipment, including tractors, and fund the recruitment and training of technical personnel. The total investment is estimated at USD 11.3 million including the government commitment to necessary resources valued at USD 1.5million. The investment gap open for private sector financing is of USD 9.8 million is expected to yield an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 22.5 %, benefiting 550,000 producers. 

Hides, skins and leather facilities

There is currently strong demand for leather products, but small and medium enterprises have limited capacity to meet this demand. As a result, the country relies heavily on imports, highlighting the need to develop the domestic leather sector, improve quality, and satisfy internal market needs. The industry faces major challenges, including poor animal husbandry and inadequate preservation methods, which result in low-quality hides and skins.

To address these issues, investments are being directed toward establishing two central tanneries to serve four zones, along with a new shoe and leather goods factory. Annual production targets include 1.7 million kilograms of crust leather, 1.5 million kilograms of finished leather, 2.7 million kilograms of wet blue leather, 780,000 kilograms of gelatine, 37 million handbags, and 209 million pairs of shoes. The total investment is estimated at USD 70.7 million including the government commitment to necessary resources for providing land, and establishing necessary infrastructure such as roads, electricity, internet, and water supply, valued at USD 47 million. The investment gap open for private sector financing is of USD 24 million is expected to yield an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 31.6 %, benefiting 600,000 suppliers of livestock for hides/skins. 

Dairy

With the livestock sector's growing contribution to the economy, there is currently limited value addition to benefit dairy and cattle feed market actors. To address this, the Hand in Hand (HiH) initiative supported the identification and prioritization of investments in milk production and processing.

The first investment case focuses on developing milk processing capacity to increase exports, domestic consumption of processed dairy products and create jobs. This initiative aims to process 139 million litres of raw milk annually through the installation of four processing facilities, the acquisition of six modern milk tanker trucks, and installation of 100 milk coolers. The annual targets include producing 130 million litres of UHT milk, 50 million litres of yoghurt, 43 million tons of milk powder, and 70 million litres of pasteurized milk. The total investment is estimated at approximately USD 425 million, with the government supporting this investment by providing land, and establishing necessary infrastructure such as roads, electricity, internet, and water supply, valued at around USD 35.2 million. Therefore, the investment gap is of USD 390 million, expected to yield an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 26%, directly benefiting 1.2 million dairy farmers and workers. 

Maize processing

Currently, the government of Uganda loses 9.2 million USD in tax due to rejected maize exports. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the maize quality by improving the cleaning, storage and processing of maize as well as adding value to raw maize products. This will not only increase raw product exports, but processing maize will lead to an increase in value-added consumption and exports.  Investments are focused on modern machinery for processing to produce three high-value maize products including cornflakes, maize oil and maize starch. The target is to process 28,800 tons of high-quality maize to produce 96,000 tonnes of corn flakes, 39,000 litres of maize oil, and 58,000 tonnes of maize starch annually.  This investment is estimated at USD 18.29 million, including the government commitment to necessary resources for providing land, and establishing necessary infrastructure such as roads, electricity, internet, and water supply, valued at USD 16 million. The investment gap open for private sector financing is of USD 8.28 million is expected to yield an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 29.4 %, benefiting 120,000 maize farmers, traders and maize factory workers. 

Animal Feed manufacturing

The investment in animal feeds is aimed at addressing critical challenges in the livestock sector across the four selected zones in Uganda. The key issues identified include the inaccessibility of pasture seeds, leading to limited milk production and cattle mortality during dry seasons; inadequate animal feeds exacerbated by climate change and prolonged drought; limited preservation technologies for pastures; and a lack of necessary machinery and equipment. These challenges contribute to a significant deficit in animal feed supply, with Uganda facing shortages between 40% and 60%. To tackle these problems, the proposed investment involves establishing 4 Nucleus estates with 4 silage bunkers (capacity of 816,000 tonnes/year), a hay barn (capacity of 400,000 tonnes/year), a dairy meal plant (capacity of 411,300 tonnes/year), a poultry feeds plant (capacity of 1 million tonnes/year), and a pig feeds plant (capacity 1.05 million tonnes/year). This investment aims at producing well-balanced and nutritious animal feeds alongside pastures for preservation as silage and hay. The overall investment is estimated at USD 184.3 million, including the government committing the necessary resources for land and infrastructure valued at USD 34 million. The gap of USD 150.1 million open for private-sector financing is expected to yield an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 26.7%, benefiting 1.2 million farmers and businesses.