economy 12 September 2026 Daily Monitor (Uganda)
Busoga Region Explores Coffee and Cocoa Tourism for Job Creation
The Busoga region is set to host the inaugural Busoga Coffee & Cocoa Tourism Festival, aiming to transform coffee and cocoa farming into lucrative tourism ventures and create employment opportunities, particularly for youth and women. The festival will connect farmers with markets, attract investment, and promote agro-tourism. Source: https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/busoga-eyes-coffee-cocoa-tourism-to-create-jobs-5592852
The Busoga region is preparing to launch a new initiative focused on leveraging coffee and cocoa farming to boost tourism and generate employment. The upcoming Busoga Coffee & Cocoa Tourism Festival, scheduled from September 18-20, 2026, in Jinja, aims to unlock the economic potential of these crops beyond traditional agriculture.
Organized by the Women’s Environmental Forum Uganda (WEF-Uganda) in collaboration with the Busoga Kingdom and other partners, the festival anticipates over 300 exhibitors and thousands of attendees. It is designed to foster connections among farmers, processors, exporters, buyers, investors, tourism operators, and policymakers, fostering growth across the entire coffee and cocoa value chains.
“We have observed significant opportunities in coffee and cocoa for Busoga, yet also identified critical gaps such as limited access to finance, weak market linkages, and low levels of value addition,” stated Ms. Resty Mbwali, the festival’s team leader. The event seeks to address these challenges by directly linking farmers with potential buyers and service providers.
The festival will also highlight the role of coffee and cocoa in environmental conservation. Organizers emphasize that these tree crops, when cultivated sustainably, can aid in environmental restoration, enhance biodiversity, and build climate resilience, offering long-term economic benefits to farming communities.
An integral part of the festival is the focus on agro-tourism. A pre-festival farm visit on September 17 will allow participants to experience firsthand coffee and cocoa production, processing, and the potential for transforming farms into tourist destinations. This initiative aims to create supplementary income streams for rural communities and promote agricultural tourism.
Young entrepreneurs will be central to the event, with a Youth Innovation Challenge and Enterprise Hub designed to showcase their ideas in areas like agritech, branding, packaging, and digital solutions. Selected youth and women-led businesses will be eligible for a post-festival acceleration program.
“We want attendees to leave with tangible outcomes, whether it’s a new buyer for a farmer, a mentor for a young entrepreneur, a financing opportunity for a business, or a new partnership for a tourism operator,” commented festival coordinator Christine Nababi.
The event also seeks to diversify Busoga’s economic identity, traditionally associated with sugarcane, by showcasing its coffee, cocoa, natural attractions, and cultural heritage. The Nile Coffee Cruise Networking Experience will further facilitate connections among key stakeholders on the River Nile.