Published on 06/08/2025
Hajjat Hadijah Namyalo’s ongoing South African empowerment tour has taken a significant agricultural focus as she engages with Ugandan diaspora farmers in Mpumalanga Province. Following initial engagements with business communities in Gauteng, Wester cape, Eastern Cape, Limpopo, the tour has now spotlighted two major farming operations that demonstrate the potential of Ugandan agribusiness abroad.
The highlight was Namyalo’s visit to Mr. Williams Bagala’s expansive 45-hectare vegetable farm in Kwamhlanga, one of the largest known Ugandan-owned agricultural enterprises in Southern Africa. Specializing in cabbage and sukuma wiki production, the farm serves as both a commercial success story and major employer of Ugandans and South Africans alike.
Namyalo also inspected Mr. Denis Kiwanuka’s poultry farm in the same province, where she observed modern farming techniques that could benefit Uganda’s agricultural sector. In a show of practical support, she presented each farmer with $10,000 in empowering funds from President Museveni while making three key commitments: to connect them with Uganda’s Ministry of Agriculture for technical exchange, to facilitate training opportunities for Ugandan farmers, and to personally advocate for presidential support from H.E. Yoweri Museveni.
“This tour has revealed the tremendous potential of our diaspora farmers,” Namyalo remarked. “These operations don’t just create jobs abroad – they represent knowledge banks that can transform Uganda’s own agricultural productivity when properly harnessed.”
The visits form part of a structured diaspora engagement strategy that has already seen Namyalo meet with Ugandan business groups in Johannesburg and women entrepreneurs in Pretoria. Agricultural experts note the particular significance of supporting established operations like Bagala’s 45-hectare model farm, which demonstrates the scalability of Ugandan agribusiness ventures in the region.
With similar engagements planned for other provinces, Namyalo’s tour is increasingly focused on creating sustainable bridges between diaspora and Uganda’s development priorities, particularly empowering Ugandans and also mobilizing for President Museveni.
