BUSHENYI, December 2, 2025 – Tea farmers in Bushenyi district have formalised their collective efforts by establishing the Bushenyi District Tea Farmers’ Cooperative Union, a move aimed at strengthening their bargaining power and positioning growers to access government support.
The new union brings together representatives from sub-counties, town councils and Bushenyi Municipality.
A nine-member interim Board of Directors [BoD], constituted in line with the Cooperative Act Cap. 107, will lead the organisation. The Board will provide guidance to all primary societies under the union, with a mandate to support farmers in areas such as collective marketing, lobbying and standardised reporting.
Strategic timing and government pledges
The union’s formation comes ahead of the anticipated fulfilment of President Yoweri Museveni’s pledge to provide Shs 300 billion to help smallholder farmers expand tea production, including subsidised fertilisers.
The election of the interim board was initiated and facilitated by the District Commercial Officer, Christine Hope Komujuni.
Aggrey Ategyeka, Principal Commercial Officer for Bushenyi Municipality, said the cooperative model was long overdue for tea farmers in Greater Bushenyi.
“Bushenyi is one of the leading districts in the Ankole Sub-region for tea growing and processing. However, farmers have been working in silos, missing out on the benefits of collective bargaining, sustainable marketing and government support,” he said. “The Union is now the formal entity through which government assistance will be channelled, rather than supporting individuals.”
Benefits of cooperation
Tea farmer Shallon Mugisha welcomed the development, saying the union would empower farmers to take greater ownership of their sector.
“This is a great idea. Farmers will now be responsible for their own project. Where factories were setting prices, the cooperatives will now set prices, rules and transportation regulations,” she said.
She added that local leadership within the cooperatives would help ensure stricter monitoring of green leaf plucking, improving the overall quality of tea supplied to factories.
Farmers in the area have long been affected by low prices, with a kilogramme of green leaf fetching as little as Shs 200. With the formation of the cooperative union, stakeholders expect prices to improve in the near future.
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