Uganda is set to integrate coffee and cocoa production into the country’s tourism offering, with pilot agricultural tourism experiences expected to begin in farming regions next year.
The initiative is aimed at using Uganda’s globally recognised agricultural products to attract tourists while creating additional income opportunities for farmers and strengthening the country’s tourism value chain.
The plan was highlighted during the Uganda Coffee & Cocoa Expo 2026, which brought together tourism operators, agricultural stakeholders and international visitors in Kampala.
Francis Nyende, Marketing Manager at Uganda Tourism Board (UTB), said linking farmers and producers to tourism could create experiences that allow visitors to understand the origins of Uganda’s agricultural products.
“By connecting farmers and producers with the tourism value chain, we can curate authentic experiences that allow visitors to enjoy these products, understand their origins and share Uganda’s story with the world,” Nyende said.
The approach will see coffee and cocoa positioned not only as agricultural commodities but also as part of Uganda’s broader destination story, with visitors expected to experience their production, meet farmers and learn about the communities and landscapes where the crops are grown.
Expo organisers said coffee and cocoa carry stories of origin, people, heritage and place that can be used to strengthen Uganda’s tourism offering.
Uganda Tourism Board expects the strategy to help diversify Uganda’s tourism products, which have traditionally been heavily associated with wildlife and natural attractions such as gorillas, mountains, the River Nile and national parks.
By introducing agricultural experiences, Uganda hopes to give visitors more opportunities to interact with communities and understand the production of some of the country’s major export commodities.
The strategy could also provide farmers with an additional source of income beyond the sale of coffee and cocoa as raw commodities. The Uganda Coffee & Cocoa Expo also highlighted the need to integrate coffee and cocoa into tourism, which is intended to strengthen the tourism value chain by connecting their economic value with their cultural and geographical identity.
Under the planned model, tourists could potentially visit farming communities, experience coffee and cocoa production and processing, interact with farmers and consume the products at their source. The approach is expected to give visitors a stronger connection to Uganda’s agricultural heritage while creating opportunities for local communities to participate in tourism.
Notably, several international tourism operators who attended the Expo expressed interest in developing coffee and cocoa tourism experiences, suggesting that there is potential demand for agricultural tourism products that are closely connected to their places of origin.
However, stakeholders face the challenge of ensuring that the development of agritourism benefits farming communities and does not turn cultural heritage into staged experiences. The success of the initiative will therefore depend on how much revenue reaches farmers and communities, the quality of tourism infrastructure and the ability of operators to preserve the authenticity of the experiences.
The Uganda Tourism Board expects to begin piloting the integration of coffee and cocoa into tourism in selected farming regions in 2027, with the move also seeking to give Uganda greater control over the international story surrounding its agricultural products as Uganda is one of the world’s coffee-producing countries, but much of its coffee is exported through international supply chains where branding and marketing are often handled outside the country. The new approach seeks to connect the product more directly to Uganda’s identity, landscapes and communities.
Expo organisers argued that when visitors experience Ugandan coffee and cocoa at their source, they are not simply consuming agricultural products but encountering part of Uganda’s cultural and economic story.
For Uganda, the strategy could create a new link between agriculture and tourism, two sectors that are central to employment and rural livelihoods. If successfully implemented, coffee and cocoa tourism could provide farmers with additional income streams, expose visitors to rural Uganda and strengthen the country’s destination brand beyond traditional wildlife tourism.
The initiative therefore represents an attempt to turn Uganda’s agricultural heritage into a tourism asset while ensuring that the value generated from the country’s coffee and cocoa remains more closely connected to the people and places that produce them.
