Fred Bwino Kyakulaga the State Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries presents a dummy cheque of Shs 1.2 billion with Equity Bank’s Director of Public Sector And Social Investment Catherine Psomgen
HABARI DAILY I Kampala, Uganda I The Government of Uganda has joined hands with Equity Bank to manage the National Oil Palm Project’s credit facility, through which up to Shs1.2 billion will be provided to farmers to boost oil palm cultivation.
Through the initiative, smallholder farmers will be provided with funding, training, and agricultural inputs.
The initiative, which was launched on Friday, 10th October 2025, at Mayuge District Headquarters, brought together district leaders, councilors and various farmers.
Through this initiative, Equity Bank is not only holding and dispensing the funds but also providing capacity-building to the small holder farmers in Buvuma, Mayuge, Bugiri and Namayimba districts.
So far, 896 farmers have benefited, receiving over sh1.2b to grow oil palm in Busoga. These have received various financial and investment solutions, incorporating enablers to reduce risk and maximize success.
Fred Bwino Kyakulaga, the state Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, who presided over the launch, said that the move will go a long way towards transforming the people of Busoga from the chronic poverty which has affected them for so long.
“Uganda alone minus exporting has ready market for Palm oil, soap, cosmetic products and various items which require palm oil as a raw material,” he said.
He added that at harvest each farmer will be directly earning sh2.5m monthly for about 25-30 years.
“Through this initiative, the Government has answered the Busoga poverty and job crisis issue with this National Oil Palm Project,” he said, adding that they have selected Equity Bank as a partner, specifically to manage the credit facility.
He said after the first phase is concluded, parts of Kamuli, Iganga, Jinja City, Bugweri, Namatumba, Luuka and Kaliro will be onboarded next year.
Kyakulaga added that to benefit from this, each farmer or a group of farmers is supposed to have five hectares of land to which each will receive sh25m.
“For those who don’t possess that much land but have half of that land will also get half of that money,” he said, adding that for appropriate use, not all the money is transferred directly to the farmer’s account.
“The largest chunk is managed through Equity Bank, and will link farmers up with Ministry vetted suppliers, who will directly who it directly pay them to deliver pesticides, fertilizers, trim the trees and also educate the farmers on maintenance.
The rest is then remitted to the farmers account and followed up for accountability.
Catherine Psomgen, Equity Bank’s Director for Public Sector and Social Investment said that they will employ modern banking systems to track every transaction, verify beneficiaries and ensure funds reach the genuine oil palm farmers in record time.
“Palm seedlings take 18 months before they can be ready to plant. The bank can confidently confirm that within two years 896 farmers have been able to benefit from these funds, so far totaling sh1.2b,” she sa
She said that all of these have been trained on how to dig proper holes, supported with pesticides, fertilizers and have been given seedlings which are ready to plant.
According to the agriculture ministry, the PLSM oil palm project has established over 50,000 hectares (approximately 123,552 acres) of oil palm plantations, with 5,000 hectares on Buvuma Island and other areas in districts like Kalangala, Masaka, Mayuge, and Namayingo already under cultivation.
It says that while the target for the initial phase was 11,348 hectares, expansion efforts continue, aiming to reach an additional 17,147 hectares in the project’s second phase.
The National Palm Oil Project could save Uganda nearly $290 million in foreign exchange annually by replacing edible oil imports. In 2019, the project already saved the country an estimated $84.3b (approximately $25 million USD) through increased production.
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