dfcu Bank is deepening its support for agricultural transformation in Northern Uganda, backing young farmer Alfred Ojok’s expanding coffee venture as part of a broader push to unlock agribusiness potential under Uganda’s National Development Plan IV (NDP IV).
Uganda is targeting an economic leap from about $50 billion to $500 billion by 2040, anchored on agro-industrialisation, tourism, mineral development, and science, technology and innovation. Agriculture remains the most immediate entry point, with policymakers increasingly betting on value addition, productivity and commercial farming models.
It is within this context that dfcu Bank is expanding its agricultural financing footprint, including support for the Best Farmers Awards—an initiative by Vision Group in partnership with the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Koudijs Animal Nutrition. Since 2014, the programme has recognised over 130 farmers excelling in productivity and agribusiness performance, with the 2025 cohort set for a benchmarking tour in the Netherlands.
Among this year’s winners is Alfred Ojok, a 34-year-old farmer from Nwoya District whose journey reflects both the struggles and emerging opportunities in Northern Uganda’s farming landscape.
Ojok, who runs Hasting Coffee Center and chairs the Nwoya Lalr Coffee and Poultry Cooperative Society Limited, is betting on coffee as a pathway out of rural poverty and into structured agribusiness.
His story has been shaped by setbacks. Raised in a modest household, Ojok first tried garlic farming, but the venture collapsed under Nwoya’s harsh climatic conditions. Instead of exiting agriculture, he pivoted to coffee—starting afresh, learning from local farmers and gradually building technical competence.
Today, he manages 25 acres of coffee in Amola village and has emerged as the Best Farmer in the Northern Region.
Ojok first encountered the Best Farmers programme in 2019, was profiled in 2022, and after years of steady improvement, was named a 2025 winner.
The cooperative he leads, Lalr, is built on the belief that land can be converted into opportunity. Under his leadership, it is working to improve household incomes while promoting organised farming as a model for rural transformation.
Beyond his own enterprise, Ojok is training more than 40 young people through Hasting Coffee Center, equipping them with hands-on skills in coffee, cocoa and banana farming, while also linking them to land access for plantation development.
His progress has not been without challenges. Early gaps in farm management led to crop losses, later addressed through training support from the Uganda Coffee Development Authority. Climate change remains a persistent threat, with prolonged dry spells affecting yields and forcing reliance on labour-intensive interventions such as mulching and manual irrigation.
The Shs 7 million award from the 2025 Best Farmers scheme is now set to fund a modern irrigation system aimed at improving resilience and stabilising production.
Ojok is also gradually adopting precision farming tools, including mobile-based systems to track crop health and environmental conditions.
Looking ahead, the Netherlands study tour offers him a chance to scale his ambitions—from reducing dependence on middlemen, to accessing direct markets, and ultimately building a recognised coffee brand rooted in Northern Uganda.
He also intends to transfer knowledge back to fellow farmers, a move that could help reshape productivity and agribusiness practices across the region.
dfcu Bank’s backing of Ojok’s journey highlights a broader shift in how financial institutions are positioning agriculture—not just as subsistence, but as a structured, investable sector capable of driving Uganda’s long-term economic transformation under NDP IV.
