Long-stricken after a 20-year Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) insurgency, Acholi region remains among the poorest regions in Uganda. Despite significant reconstruction efforts, economic progress has been slow, with funds often lost in bureaucracy and investors targeting land resources. NilePost’s James Ojok Onono explains a government-backed initiative to boost coffee farming in Uganda’s Acholi region.
However, a new government-backed initiative to promote coffee farming offers new hope for economic recovery. The campaign, run by Operation Wealth Creation and the Prime Minister’s Office in collaboration with Acholi development group Gurre Me Pondwongo, aims to challenge the long-held belief that northern Uganda is unsuitable for coffee cultivation.
Historically, colonial policies have favored cotton farming over coffee in the region, but farmers like 71-year-old Oola Gaudensio Lakana from Bobi Sub-County, Omoro District, are proving otherwise. Oola, a second-generation coffee farmer, heads the Bobi Paidong Coffee Growers Association, which has more than a million seedlings ready for planting. Some farmers have expanded their plantations to 27 acres, taking advantage of strong market demand and rising coffee prices, currently at UGX 7,000 per kilogram.
Government investments in infrastructure such as the Gulu-Pakwach railway and the planned Gulu logistics hub are further fuelling optimism. General Salim Saleh, chief coordinator of Operation Wealth Creation, assured farmers that the initiative is not focused solely on production but on long-term value addition.
“We have the land, the markets and soon we have mechanization. This economic transformation is inevitable,” Tarehe Sita said in his latest message.
Local leaders and public figures, including the late Opio Lukone and Gulu Mayor Alfred Okwonga, have also embraced coffee farming and encouraged more households to adopt it. Advocates believe that if every family cultivated at least one acre, the region could see a significant reduction in poverty.
With affordable prices and increased government support, coffee is increasingly seen as a key driver of economic change in the Acholi, offering many households a path to prosperity.