Food & Climate
A meeting in Cairo discussed establishing the second Uganda-Egypt Joint Model Farm in Kampala, on an area of 1,000 hectares (10 square kilometers), and benefiting from the success of the first project.
On Wednesday, February 19, 2025, the Egyptian Minister of Agriculture, Alaa Farouk, offered to send experts and researchers to Uganda to train a team on how to deal with climate change, transfer expertise, develop fertilizer maps, and conduct soil classification studies; to facilitate agricultural producers, during his reception of a delegation from the Ugandan National Service Authority, in Cairo, headed by Lieutenant General James Mugira.
The management of the current Egyptian-Ugandan farm, which extends over an area of 500 hectares (5 square kilometers), does not only work for plant and animal production, but also extends to developing and cultivating new, high-quality and productive varieties of corn, soybeans, and beans, and distributing part of them to farmers, according to a statement received by the “Food & Climate” platform.
The director of the Uganda-Egypt Joint Model Farm, Dr. Ibrahim Mashali, participated in the joint meeting.
Mashali had previously said in statements to local media: “Maize and beans achieved high productivity.” He added: “Egypt financed the farm, including equipment, agriculture and animal production, and Uganda provided the land and labor.”
When did Uganda-Egypt Joint Model Farm start?
On December 28, 2021, The Minister of Agriculture Animal industry and Fisheries Hon Frank Tumwebaze has commissioned the Egypt-Uganda Joint Model farm Project. The event took place at Kisozi in Gomba district where the farm is located.
The farm, also known as NEC Farm sits on 9 square miles of land and is being developed by the National Enterprise Corporation (NEC) the commercial arm of the ministry of defense, aimed at promoting the production of meat for export to Africa, Europe and the Middle East.
Following an agreement signed between Uganda and Egypt, the farm is managed by the ministry of agriculture together with the land reclamation of Egypt.
Tumwebaze toured the Egypt-Uganda bull-fattening farm, where it was reported that bulls add 1.35kg of weight every day. He also went ahead to visit the sister farm in katonga which has over 700 animals of varying genetics of Boran and Brahman breeds.
According to Gen James Mugira the Managing Director NEC, another farm is being developed in Kyankwanzi district and it is to also create adequate meat export. “We wish to also inform you that a similar joint model farm covering a bigger area square mile is being set up at Kyankwanzi,” he said.
He also said the ministry had a strategy of supporting lead farmers as one of the means to support surrounding farmers or out-growers. “We want to put money in Katonga farm because we want to ensure that the surrounding communities use this as their anchor factor to enable them,” he added, according to “The Nile Times”.
National Enterprise Corporation
National Enterprise Corporation was established in 1989 by an Act of Parliament to serve as a commercial arm of the Ministry of Defence /Uganda Defence Forces and to produce goods and services that are beneficial to the Defence Forces and the general public. Its commercial ventures are undertaken through its Subsidiaries and Joint Ventures.
The company said: “Very impressive developments taking place at the Egypt- Uganda Model Farm project in Kisozi-Gomba District. The Egypt-Uganda Joint Model Farm project came as a result of an MoU between Egypt and the Uganda in different fields of Agriculture to create an integrated Joint Model Farm in the Republic of Uganda”.
The importance of establishing an Integrated Joint Model Farm is to enhance research activities aimed at improving Agricultural and Livestock production through the use of high yielding variety seeds and high-quality animal breeds through application of Egyptian advanced technology in the two areas of training of Ugandan farmers and specialists in best agricultural practices. NEC through NEC AGRO is the sole offtaker of Usukulu fertilisers which fertilisers have been used in this project.
Sukulu Phosphate Comprehensive Industrial Development Project, also known as the Uganda-China (Guangdong) Free Zone of International Industrial Cooperation, came from the Consensus reached between President Yoweri Museveni ofthe Republic Uganda and President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of Chinaduring BRICS Summit in Durban, South Africa in Dec, 2015.
This project is one of the flagship projects in Uganda Vision 2040. The total investment of Sukulu Project is 620 million USD, which comprises of a Dressing Plant (Mineral Separation), a Bio-Organic Fertilizer Plant, a Steel Mill, a Glass Factory, A Baking-Free Brick Plant, and a Maintenance Center for manufacturing all plant spare parts and other agricultural tools like hoes, disc ploughs, pangas, trailers, ridgers, rakes.