KAMPALA, July 9, 2026 — Cooperatives and coffee have emerged as key pillars of Buganda Kingdom’s development agenda after the Kingdom unveiled a Shs 409.315 billion budget for the 2026/27 financial year, representing a 27.7 per cent increase from the previous year’s Shs 320.508 billion budget.
Presenting the budget, the Kingdom’s Treasurer and Second Deputy Katikkiro, Robert Wagwa Nsibirwa, said the financial plan is anchored on the theme: “Raising standards, enhancing quality and professionalism in the effort to restore Buganda to greater heights.”
He said the budget would be implemented through strategies aimed at improving the quality of life of the kingdom’s subjects by strengthening service delivery in health, education and agriculture, while increasing household incomes.
Nsibirwa noted that, unlike Uganda’s central government, Buganda Kingdom operates without established public revenue streams and instead relies on contributions from development partners, friends of the kingdom, affiliated institutions and income generated from its investments.
He said this has compelled the kingdom to pursue innovative approaches to resource mobilisation by establishing income-generating enterprises and development projects that directly benefit its people.
Cooperatives become major revenue source
The cooperative movement has become one of the kingdom’s strongest economic pillars.
According to the budget, the cooperative sector, comprising Savings and Credit Cooperative Organisations [SACCOs], Village Savings and Loan Associations [VSLAs] and other cooperatives, contributed about five per cent of the kingdom’s total budget during the 2025/26 financial year.
Recognising the sector’s growing importance, Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II directed the establishment of a fully-fledged Department of Cooperatives under the kingdom’s Ministry of Agriculture to coordinate and accelerate cooperative development.
One of the kingdom’s flagship initiatives, the Project to Empower Women through Savings and Loan Associations [PEWOSA], has expanded from Kampala into rural communities across Buganda.
Within just three years, PEWOSA chapters have been established in all 17 counties of the Kingdom, including PEWOSA Kyaddondo, Buddu, Busiro, Ssese and Kabula. They operate under the umbrella of the Nsindikanjake Eyeterekera Union, headquartered along Kabaka Anjagala Road in Mengo.
Other cooperatives established with the kingdom’s support include Esuubiryo Zambogo SACCO, Buladde Financial Services, Baganda Nkerettanyi, Bbangawa Ceremonial Directors’ SACCO, Mengo Journalists SACCO and Akezimbira SACCO, among others.
Available records indicate that these institutions collectively have more than 648,975 members.
Buganda Kingdom has also documented numerous clan-based cooperatives whose membership runs into tens of thousands, with participation based on traditional clan lineage.
However, according to the kingdom’s Senior Trade and Cooperative Officer, Herbert Mulindwa Wamala, many clan-based cooperatives continue to face governance and structural challenges.
“These have been hampered by issues such as administrative independence from clan leadership, failure to distinguish between cultural loyalty and SACCO operational requirements, among others,” Wamala told theCooperator during an interview at Mengo.
Among the kingdom-affiliated cooperatives, PEWOSA Kyaddondo and PEWOSA Buddu are regarded as the strongest financially, each holding share capital and members’ savings worth several billions of shillings.
Many of these cooperatives also supervise smaller village savings groups commonly known as “30/30 groups”, whose financial portfolios are often excluded from consolidated records because they are still in their formative stages.
Based on available financial assessments, the kingdom’s cooperative movement is estimated to be worth more than Shs 120 billion, although this figure could not be independently verified.
During the 2025/26 financial year, the cooperative sector contributed Shs 76,102,921,868 to the kingdom’s revenue, exceeding the budget target by 5.3 percent.
For the 2026/27 financial year, the sector is projected to contribute Shs 88,594,583,434.
To strengthen the movement further, the kingdom has launched the Kola Tereka Weewole campaign, encouraging citizens to work hard, save, invest through SACCOs and access affordable credit.
The initiative particularly targets young people, many of whom are increasingly engaging in coffee production while others remain active in the informal economy.
Coffee drives rural prosperity
Coffee remains the kingdom’s leading agricultural enterprise and a major driver of rural household incomes.
The budget notes that record coffee export earnings of approximately US$ 2.4 billion have significantly boosted farmers’ incomes across the kingdom known for Robusta coffee growing.
The kingdom believes expanding coffee production is essential to sustaining household savings, strengthening SACCOs and increasing rural liquidity.
Its Mwanyi Terimba campaign, launched three years ago, continues to promote coffee growing throughout the Kingdom.
During the past year, youth and women in Kyaggwe, Ssingo, Gomba and Buvuma counties received beehives to improve pollination, increase coffee yields and generate additional household income through honey production.
The programme has also created employment opportunities for young people involved in coffee farming and related value chain activities, while encouraging greater participation in savings and credit cooperatives.
According to the kingdom, coffee cultivation has contributed to improved household incomes, better housing, increased adoption of solar energy and wider use of modern farming technologies. Some farmers are reportedly earning between Shs 8 million and Shs 15 million annually.
The expansion of the coffee value chain is also reflected in the increase in coffee hulling mills, which now number about 1,400 across the kingdom.
To further support farmers, the kingdom has established Ssemaduuka agricultural input centres in all counties to provide quality farm inputs, marketing services and financing for agricultural technologies.
The Kabaka [King] has also supported agricultural mechanisation by donating five tractors to Mawokota, Buweekula, Kkooki, Bugerere and Mawogola counties to improve agricultural productivity.
Digital economy
The budget also outlines plans to expand the Buganda Kingdom’s participation in the digital economy through financial technology and digital platforms.
“We are aggressively building our internal technical capacity to compete in the digital economy, including scaling the kingdom’s existing fintech solutions into a comprehensive platform economy ecosystem that facilitates secure, high-volume transactions for subjects and businesses,” Nsibirwa said.
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