aBi Development Ltd, in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, on Tuesday, June 10, 2025, hosted a stakeholder engagement at the Kampala Serena Hotel to align efforts towards empowering young women entrepreneurs in agriculture through coffee.
The meeting brought together leaders from government, the private sector, producer organisations, development partners, and financial institutions to explore a common roadmap for inclusive economic participation of young women in Uganda’s coffee sector.
At the heart of the conversation was amplification of the “Empowering Young-Women Entrepreneurs stimulated by Coffee” (EYE-C) Programme, funded by the Mastercard Foundation and implemented by aBi Development. The program aims to create 300,000 dignified jobs for young women through coffee-led economic inclusion, offering a powerful avenue to drive inclusive agricultural transformation.
Moses Nyabila, the CEO of aBi Development, emphasised that the primary purpose of the meeting was to bring together key stakeholders with the collective aim of helping Uganda attain 20 million coffee bags per annum by 2030, under the government’s Coffee Roadmap Vision 2030. Last year Uganda sold 8.2 million bags.
“EYE-C is about empowering young women entrepreneurs, with men as allies; an inclusive journey we can’t achieve alone,” Nyabila said.
Nyabila revealed that the Mastercard Foundation is set to invest nearly $50 million into the EYE-C initiative. In addition, they are looking ahead to the next six years and have committed a further $20 million to support the program’s long-term goals.
Caroline Wamono, the Interim Program Director of EYE-C, stated that the program has the potential to unlock rural Uganda by doubling the household incomes of young farmers, empowering women, and preparing communities for a climate-smart future.
“We’re creating a rural transformation that is driven by coffee. We aim to double farmer incomes, create over 300,000 jobs, empower women in coffee enterprise, and foster climate-smart agriculture,” Wamono said adding that;
With only 20 percent of Ugandan farms receiving advisory services, Wamono has urged stakeholders to bridge the gap and support farmers, especially youth and women with knowledge and resources to boost productivity and income.
Dr. Gerald Kyalo, Commissioner for Coffee Development at the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF), stated that EYE-C will help escalate the Coffee Roadmap Vision 2030. He further emphasised coffee’s central role in Uganda’s economy as it contributes 22.6 percent of export earnings and supports over 12 million Ugandans.
“Our journey to 20 million bags by 2030 is not just a goal; it’s a national mission,” he stated, adding that coffee production has already grown from 4.7 million bags in 2017 to 8.2 million today.
Martin Maraka, CEO of the Uganda Coffee Federation, called for more youth and women involvement in the coffee sector, noting that their participation is key to the industry’s future. He emphasized that with the right support, training, and access to resources, young people and women can drive innovation, increase productivity, and ensure long-term sustainability in Uganda’s coffee value chain.
The event also featured a panel Q&A session featuring MAAIF’s Alfred Okwir and EYE-C’s Caroline Wamono. The discussion tackled key issues affecting Uganda’s coffee sector, including affordable financing for smallholder farmers, land ownership challenges faced by women farmers, the need for improved access to extension services and markets, among others.
The event was capped by breakout sessions, where participants focused on identifying practical strategies to strengthen production, engage youth and women more effectively, promote climate-smart practices, and improve coordination across the coffee value chain.
