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On just half an acre in Tororo, Nelly Turyamuhebwa has built a farming enterprise that generates millions in monthly revenue, supplies major institutional clients, and is steadily positioning itself for value-added production.
What makes Mamikki Farm stand out is not the size of the land, but the intensity, structure, and efficiency behind it.
The farm combines dairy farming, poultry, piggery, and banana cultivation within an integrated system where each enterprise supports the other. Waste from one section becomes input for another, allowing the business to maximise productivity while controlling costs.
“I grew up seeing farming provide everything for us,” Turyamuhebwa says. “My parents paid for my education through milk sales. As I grew older, I realised farming was not just a way of life, it was a serious source of income.”
After leaving formal employment to focus fully on agribusiness, she began building what has now become one of the most productive small-acreage farms in the region.
Mamikki Farm currently manages 34 cows producing up to 380 litres of milk daily. The poultry section has evolved into the strongest revenue driver, generating more than UGX 25 million monthly, while the dairy unit contributes approximately UGX 12 million. The farm supplies individual consumers as well as institutional clients including Busitema University and Simba Cement.
The farm reflects a growing category of agribusinesses that dfcu Bank is backing, operations built around productivity, efficiency, and long-term commercial growth.
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Agriculture has remained central to dfcu Bank’s identity since its establishment in 1964 as a development finance institution supporting Uganda’s economic growth. Over the years, the bank has expanded its support beyond traditional lending into a broader agricultural ecosystem that combines financing, technical support, market linkage, and business development.
Through its dedicated agribusiness segment, dfcu Bank finances players across the agricultural value chain, including input suppliers, farmers, processors, traders, and exporters. Its financing solutions are structured around the realities of agriculture, with seasonal working capital aligned to production cycles, flexible repayment structures linked to cash flow, and financing models that extend beyond conventional collateral requirements.
The bank has also expanded financing for mechanisation and productive assets, supporting farmers and agribusinesses to invest in equipment, storage, transport, and processing infrastructure. Through partnerships focused on mechanisation, farmers are able to access asset financing with significantly reduced upfront capital requirements, enabling them to scale operations more sustainably.
Beyond financing, dfcu Bank has invested heavily in farmer capacity building through the dfcu Foundation, formerly the Agribusiness Development Centre. Since 2018, the initiative has supported tens of thousands of farmers and agribusinesses through training, financial literacy, mentorship, market linkage, and business acceleration programmes. The Foundation is now targeting an additional 100,000 beneficiaries over the next five years, with a strong focus on women and youth participation in agriculture.
Turyamuhebwa’s visibility grew further through the Best Farmers initiative, organised by Vision Group in partnership with dfcu Bank, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, and Koudijs Animal Nutrition.
Since its launch in 2014, the initiative has recognised more than 130 farmers across Uganda for excellence in productivity, sustainability, innovation, record-keeping, and agribusiness management. Beyond recognition, winners gain exposure to international best practices through study visits to the Netherlands, while benefiting from increased visibility, networking opportunities, and access to growth support.
“The judges were struck by how much is happening on such a small piece of land and the amount of money it generates,” Turyamuhebwa explains.
Following her recognition in the 2025 Best Farmers Awards, she reinvested her UGX 7 million cash prize into a chaff cutter to improve feed preparation and efficiency within the dairy unit, part of a larger plan to improve herd quality and move into yoghurt production through value addition.
For Turyamuhebwa, the recognition has carried significance beyond the financial reward.
“This award has made me a popular farmer in Tororo and beyond,” she says. “Many people, especially women, are reaching out to me for advice. I no longer look at farming as a dirty job, the way many people used to see it.”
She is now working with dfcu Bank to secure additional financing to expand the farm to a full acre and establish a training centre that will equip other farmers with practical knowledge in integrated farming and agribusiness management.
As she prepares for a study visit to the Netherlands, her focus is on learning how advanced agricultural systems can be adapted locally to improve productivity and efficiency.
Turyamuhebwa’s journey reflects a broader transformation taking place within Uganda’s agricultural sector, where access to financing, technical support, and commercial knowledge is enabling farmers to build enterprises designed not just for survival, but for scale, sustainability, and long-term impact.
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