Agro Tourism in Uganda

Agro Tourism in Uganda – Agri Tourism / Agricultural experience in Uganda

Agro Tourism in Uganda – Welcome to Uganda! The pearl of Africa. Uganda Is a diversified country and has a lot more things to offer.  There are many activities to do and different attractions to see in a Uganda safari, ranging from popular gorilla watching in Bwindi / Mgahinga gorilla national park, game viewing, cultural tours, bird watching, chimpanzee trekking and mountain climbing, among other activities The pearl of Africa launched agritourism to improve on the tourism in order to diversify their travel offerings and also, looking at the state of Agro tourism in other countries, Uganda followed and went on agro-tourism industry that has boosted the economy of the country. Uganda has a country, is also known as the food basket in East Africa that’s why many farmers are now venturing in to agritourism so as to boost the industry and later yield many fruits from their farms.

Agrotourism also known as agritourism has experienced faster growth and urbanization, therefore, the farmers have been in line with the new changes in order to boost the agricultural industry which will improve on the agro tourism industry in Uganda. Agrotourism industry, is currently on the rise in Uganda and has both facilitated the locals and the international tourists who come to visit these farms, thus generating Revenue in to the industry.

Agro tourism is understood as the combination of tourism and agriculture, and its where one particular crop is grown on a large scale first for tourism purposes and later sold to generate income for the farmers. The industry has greatly improved and has attracted many tourists in to the country who want to visit the farms and to know the methods and the techniques used in the improvement of the agricultural status in the country.

In Uganda, various farms are meant for agro-tourism and most of them belong to citizens who want to earn additional money to raise their farms and improve their standards of living. listed below are some of these fields, so we can know what they do and the plants in the field.

Food crops

The food crops are also grown in the area and are mainly used for the consumption of the farmers and the locals and also some food crops, are preserves for sale in order to acquire income for the farmers. Visitors visiting the farms, may also wish to purchase some fresh food crops, some of the crops grown here include; arrowroots, sugar cane, banana, oranges, Irish potatoes, stevia among others.

Forest farming

Forest farming is one of the activities carried out on this large farm, different tree species, have been planted here on a large scale to help mainly in afforestation and to preserve the environment, but also boosting the tourism industry since many tourists come to visit the farm to see the different tree species covering this piece of land. During your visit in the farm, you will be able to see different trees such Mango trees, Bamboo, pine trees, avocado trees, Jack fruit trees, eucalyptus trees, Orange trees, Musizi trees and many more other local species.

Back yard farming

There is also backyard cultivation in the area and it is possible to ask what is backyard farming. Here in the backyard the cultivations are cultivated in small plastics and they are mainly vegetables that supplement their diets. The seeds that are planted can be marketed and visitors will see the greenhouse to see how the chemicals are applied on the flowers, how they set them up to purchase some fresh vegetables.

Fish farming

In Uganda, fish farming is now a trendy practice in agriculture. The increasing demand for fish is attributable to this in Uganda. Cat and crayfish are the most common types of fish that are produced here in the country. Several ponds are designed and you will get to know how the ponds are created the farmers will be in position to share with the visitors this insight on the developing of the fishing industry, how the fish lings are selected and how the fish is preserved without missing several of the fish from being damaged. A guided tour will give you information about how you can operate your own fish farm and contribute to your sales.

The pearl of Africa farm

The Pearl of African farm, is the biggest farm industry in Uganda. The farm is situated along Hoima Road in Banda Wakiso district, this is an urban farm dealing with various agricultural practices. The farm shows people how the world can be used without destroying it for potential usage, the farmers communicate modern agricultural methods used in the farm with residents, shares information with local people on urban agriculture and much more. There are numerous plants planted here, some of which include:

The pineapple farm in Luweero

The pineapple farm is situated nearly 75 kilometres from the city centre of Kampala. The garden is situated on 4 acres and the Asians are mostly visited. Many operators and tourists go to the farm to look out for the ripe and ready pineapples for their consumption.

Agro-tourism was launched in Uganda in 2018 and began with the Luweero Pineapple project. Since then, a lot of people have been attracted to the Luweero pineapple farm to see how the bananas are handled and grown.

The target market for the launch of the Chinese farm is why local people are furious to hear that the agricultural techniques are strong and the out put is expected to be high.

While at the farm, you will be taken across the farm with various professional tour guides who can describe everything you see in depth. when visitors arrive at the farm, each of them is given a knife or machete as you head to the farm and they are told to feast on the ripe pineapples. Upon their recovery, farm managers measure all the pineapples harvested and send a present to the person who holds the biggest and smoothest and ripe pineapples.

There other farms that have also help in the boosting of agro tourism in the country and these include;

Coffee farms

Coffee farms are spread throughout the country and are a great company both for profit benefits to the farmers and for the tourism industry. Uganda’s most common grown coffee is Arabica coffee, which grows mainly along the slopes of mountain Elgon. Tourist Visiting the farms, have an opportunity to meet the farmers who will explain to the people/ tourists how the coffee is produced and how it is processed and packaged before it is shipped. Coffee can be shipped and the various farms visited by the tourists, offer the government extra revenue which is used in the boosting of Agro industry and the country as a whole.

Cotton farms

During the few years back, Uganda had mainly focused on cotton growing and was being practised by several farmers. But currently, the level of production has reduced and the cotton farms are not common has they used to be back in the days. Which has rendered the few places still practising cotton growing worth visiting. Many people living in urban centres may not be having an idea of how cotton growing practise is being carried out, but visiting these farms, will offer you an opportunity to meet with the farmers who will educate you further on the basics of cotton growing right from the start of planting to the harvesting period when finally the cotton is ready for picking.

Cocoa farms

Tourist in Uganda sometimes, take time to visit the cocoa farms as a complementary activity to the popular activities in different national parks in the country. Visiting the cocoa farms, will give you an opportunity to learn the different types of cocoa, the procedures right from the planting season to the harvesting season and also techniques used in the cultivation of cocoa and the outcome from the sale of the product.

Tea plantations

In the region, separate tea plants serve as agro-tourism farms. Most people have travelled to this area purposely to see how tea looks, particularly while it is still planted in the gardens. The tea plantations provide farmers with wages after the purchase of the products and the government revenue is generation through taxation on this products and also the revenue is got from the tourists who visit the Tea plantations, during the visit, the tourist can join in the picking up of tea leaves and learn how the process of Tea picking is being done and the procedures followed right from the garden, to the finishing product of the Tea leaves its self which is ready for drinking.

Cattle rearing

Cattle rearing in a large scale, is mainly practised in western Uganda, many people in western Uganda mainly practise cattle keeping activity, the cattle reared here is mainly the long-horned cattle by the Banyankole mainly for its milk and for the meat. These big cattle farmers have been used for tourism purposes where by the tourists pay some money in order to access the farm thus generating income to the farmers which intern, has help improve on the standards of the farmers and the farm its self.

When the visitors visit the farm, they get to know the how the cattle are fed, the process of milking cows and the benefits got from the cow dung which is used in the provision of manure in the gardens thus improving on soil fertility.

Importance of Agro tourism in Uganda

Agro tourism has generated Revenue to the government when the tourists visit the farms, they pay some money before accessing the farms thus his money is injected in the development of the country in providing services to the people.

Agro tourism, has also help in creation of the, markets for the farmers so that their products are sold directly to the clients they will be supplying to, these helps in generating income that has help improve on their standards of living.

Agro tourism has provided employment opportunities to the local communities who are employed to work in these farms.

Agro tourism, has also help in educating the public on the modern methods of farming that can result in improvement of the agriculture in the country thus realising high out put when the plants are harvested.

Agro-tourism in Uganda is increasingly developing and it will become the main focus for most tourists in Uganda in the coming years, given the best prospects. The journey is a good thing for Uganda and if you plan to travel in Uganda, make sure that you don’t skip the safari packages that give a tour of the different farms in the numerous areas of the country.