Roots of Prosperity Harvesting Uganda's Future
Sustainable agriculture for food security and economic growth. We transform cassava value chains to empower communities across Uganda.
Get Involved
Sustainable agriculture for food security and economic growth. We transform cassava value chains to empower communities across Uganda.
Get Involved
DIRECTOR
We at Cassava project Uganda ltd are thrilled that you are here. My team and I, are committed to driving positive change and real growth through innovative solutions tailored to each community while embracing diversity.
Uganda is endowed with good climate and fertile soils giving our youths and women an opportunity to harness their full potential through Agriculture, Value addition and Agro-export. We commit to provide the enablers through collaborations with government and development agencies to place the communities at the center of this development vision.
Agro-industrialization especially in the cassava sub-sector will change lives and boost economies at the micro-levels. When the right investment is made, cassava sub-sector will increase earnings for thousands of farmers, spur local employment, enhance food security and nutrition and diversify exports.
I, therefore welcome you to the home of Cassava Project Uganda Limited, share with us your experience and let us grow together!
FOR GOD AND MY COUNTRY
OSINYA GEORGE PAMBASON
DIRECTOR, Cassava Project Uganda Ltd
Through strategic collaborations with government and development agencies, Cassava Project Uganda Ltd places communities at the forefront of agro-industrial transformation.
Tailored training, access to land preparation, disease-free cassava cuttings, and market linkages. We place communities at the heart of agro-industrial growth.
Establishing state-of-the-art processing facilities for cassava value addition, creating employment and increasing farmer incomes.
Building climate-smart cassava value chains, from farm to port — increasing earnings for thousands of farmers while enhancing food security.
Collaborating with development agencies, research institutions, and government to modernize processing, starch extraction, and market access.
Connecting farmers to domestic and international markets through training programs and strategic partnerships.
Cassava starch, flour, ethanol & livestock feed — transforming raw produce into high-value products.
PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF UGANDA
Cassava has got a lot of Value! When mixed with millet flour produces a very good mbumburi (millet big lump-feeling endiiro - millet food basket), with some elasticity, as you eat it. We, the surviving authentic Africans, this is what we eat.
With our Europeanized people who eat bread made of Wheat, it is proposed that a certain percentage of the bread must be cassava by law.
Cassava is also needed by the pharmaceutical industry to make tablets. Much of the tablet is not medicine. It is starch carrier for the medicine. Our Pharmaceutical industries have been importing such starch from India - thus rendering our medicine expensive.
Cassava can be turned into ethanol for cooking purposes. it is also needed for animal feeds. Starch is needed in textile factories.
I therefore call upon Ministries of Finance, Science and Technology, Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries that we should support such initiatives.
H.E YOWERI KAGUTA MUSEVENI
PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF UGANDA
From traditional nutrition to modern industry — unlocking the full potential of cassava for food security, manufacturing and exports.
Mbumburi (cassava-millet blend), elastic traditional meals, and cassava-enriched bread — preserving authentic African food culture.
High-grade starch for tablet binding. Replace costly imports from India, reduce medicine prices & build local capacity.
Cassava-based ethanol for cooking fuel, reducing deforestation and offering sustainable energy solutions.
Nutritious cassava-based feed boosts livestock, poultry, and aquaculture — cutting dependency on imported grains.
Industrial starch for textile finishing and sizing, powering local garment industries with Ugandan raw material.
High-quality cassava chips, flour, and starch open doors to regional & global markets, increasing farmer incomes.
Ministries of Finance, Science & Technology, Agriculture, Animal Industry & Fisheries — accelerate investments in cassava value chains, research, and agro-processing infrastructure. Cassava Project Uganda Ltd stands ready to collaborate with public & private sectors to realize this national vision.
Despite Uganda having a bimodal tropical climate and fertile soils which make a perfect Agro-ecosystem for cassava production, significant challenges remain.
Average cassava yields in Uganda remain below 5 metric tonnes per hectare for smallholder farmers, which is significantly below the potential yields of 20 to 35 tonnes per hectare achievable under optimal management. The fragmented smallholder farmers who are subsistence and only grow cassava for food security poses significant challenges to the Agro-industrialization agenda.
Average yields of 5 MT/ha vs. potential 20-35 MT/ha. Fragmented subsistence farmers with less than 1 acre per household using hand-hoes.
Only 10% of farmers have access to formal financial services. Interest rates remain high (22-30%) with exhausting lending criteria.
Over 99% of chips and flour processed using rudimentary technologies. Products contaminated with sand and aflatoxins.
30-40% loss per annum due to poor processing technologies, lack of storage facilities, and inadequate bulking centers.
Low access to clean certified planting materials. Farmers vulnerable to weather extremes and disease epidemics.
Increasing drought, irregular rainfall, poor soil fertility management, and low adoption of climate-smart varieties.
Source: NPA Cassava Value Chain Report 2024, Bank of Uganda 2019
Addressing Uganda's environmental challenges through sustainable cassava-based solutions.
Uganda's population has grown from 36.4 million in 2014 to 45.9 million in 2024, driving increased demand for food and cooking energy. Uganda predominantly uses charcoal and firewood for cooking, leading to severe deforestation.
Processed by distilling fermented cassava starch into ethanol for clean cooking fuel, reducing deforestation and offering sustainable energy solutions.
Made through pyrolysis of cassava peels and fibrous residue — an eco-friendly alternative to charcoal and firewood.
The project supports farmers to adopt Climate Smart Agriculture through the following approaches:
Planting varieties like Nase 14, Narocass1 and 19 developed at NARO. Resistant to Cassava Mosaic and Brown Streak diseases, yielding approximately 20MT per acre.
Ensuring access to clean, certified resistant varieties and encouraging environmentally friendly pesticides that are safe for human consumption.
Conservation techniques including rotation, intercropping with legumes, maximum tillage of three years, and mulching to reduce soil fatigue and enhance fertility.
Collaboration with meteorologists to help farmers use weather forecasts and scientific warning systems for risk mitigation decisions.
Implementing drip irrigation and flood irrigation for farms near water sources to ensure productivity during dry spells.
Our comprehensive approach to transforming Uganda's cassava sector through five key intervention areas.
Weak input systems characterized by low access to certified planting materials which are disease-free and high-yielding is a hindrance to the cassava sector development. We support multiplication of clean, high-yielding, and disease-resistant cassava planting materials through collaborations with MAAIF, NARO, Namulonge and Private entities.
The Global Hunger Index ranks Uganda at 105 out of 127 countries, with over 1.5M people exposed to food insecurity. Our solution is to improve cassava farm yields through modern agronomy and mechanization from 3-5 MT/acre to 20-25 MT/acre.
The country loses 30-40% of harvested cassava through post-harvest physiological deterioration (PPD) each year. We ensure efficient adoption of value addition technologies at both artisanal and industrial levels.
With over 3 million metric tonnes of fresh cassava produced annually, less than 10% is processed into high-value products — a missed opportunity for GDP contribution. We strengthen market systems linking producers and processors to markets.
Women and youths face significant challenges accessing resources. Tradition hinders their access to land and finance. We promote inclusive participation in cassava production and processing.
Uganda's population: 70%+ youth | 30% female-headed households
Aligning with Uganda's National Development Plan IV for Agro-Industrialisation
To achieve the agro-industrialisation agenda, the programme prioritises six agricultural industrial value chains and selected priority crops based on agro-ecological zones. Despite all the investment done in agriculture over the years, the country boasts of only two fairly developed agriculture industrial value chains: dairy and sugar.
The Plan targets to develop another four including coffee, vegetable oils, cassava, and fish.
Widely grown and major contributor to export earnings
Industrial applications in food processing, cosmetics, feeds, and biofuels
Food security staple with industrial potential for flour, starch, and ethanol
Strategic protein source with export potential
Cassava contributes to food security as a staple for the majority of people across the country. It is vital for industrial growth, providing raw materials such as flour, starch, ethanol, and other products used in diverse industries including pharmaceuticals. This generates household incomes and supports import replacement.
Uganda has four large cassava-based industries and with a supportive policy environment, there is high potential for more such factories.
Source: National Development Plan IV — Agro-Industrialisation Development Programme
Eastern Uganda — ideal location due to centrality to trade routes and markets, along the trans-African highway with direct access to the port of Mombasa.
Busoga region is the second cassava producing region in the country. The production areas are mapped on the Agro-ecological zoning for cassava agro-processing by NDPIV 2025/26-2029/30.
Target regions include: Central, Busoga, Bukedi, Teso, and Karamoja
Working together with government agencies, research institutions, and development organizations to transform Uganda's cassava sector.
Ministry of Agriculture
National Agricultural Research
Government Program
Development Partner
Quality Assurance
Agricultural Platform
Cassava Project Uganda Ltd is a social enterprise transforming the cassava value chain for sustainable agriculture, food security, and economic growth in rural communities.