Representatives of partnering entities pose for a group photo after launching the 12th edition of the competitionNjeru, Jinja, Uganda — In a bold push to transform Uganda’s agriculture sector into a competitive, investment-driven industry, dfcu Bank, together with Vision Group, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, de heus, Koudijs Nutrition BV and New Vision Foundation, has launched the 2026 Best Farmers Competition, positioning farming as a structured and profitable business.Now in its 12th edition, the competition is being implemented under the Vision Initiative for Sustainable Agriculture (VISA) and will run under the theme “Farming as a Business, Growth, Commercialization and Cooperatives.”The initiative comes at a time when agriculture employs over 70 percent of Uganda’s population, yet remains largely subsistence-based, exposing a critical gap between potential and productivity.The competition targets farmers and cooperatives with strong commercial potential, focusing on productivity, record keeping, value addition, sustainability and market access, key pillars seen as essential in shifting Uganda’s agriculture into a competitive enterprise sector.Speaking at the launch in Njeru, (Jinja), Mathias Jumba, Head of Integrated Channels at dfcu Bank, said the lender is deliberately backing agriculture as a business frontier. “For over sixty years, dfcu Bank has walked alongside Ugandans building lives and businesses from the ground up, and nothing is more foundational to that mission than agriculture. This competition proves that farming is not subsistence, it is enterprise, the farmers we celebrate today are keeping records, adding value, branding their products and building businesses that can scale,” he said.He added that the bank has matched its strategy with financing, noting that by the end of 2024, dfcu had supported over 1,200 agribusinesses, reached 59,000 beneficiaries, facilitated $22 million in business linkages and connected 5,000 enterprises to formal financial services, with 52 percent being women.The 2026 edition introduces a more competitive structure, recognising small, medium and large-scale farmers alongside agricultural cooperatives, reflecting the growing importance of aggregation and scale in modern agriculture. Uganda has nearly 30,000 cooperatives, many of them agricultural, which play a decisive role in market access, input affordability and farmer resilience.“This year’s theme speaks directly to where Ugandan agriculture must go next. Individual excellence matters, but collective strength is what transforms sectors,” Jumba said, adding that dfcu injects slightly over UGX 1 billion annually into the initiative and remains committed to financing every link within the agricultural value chain.A total of 13 winners will be selected, including 10 regional farmers and three cooperatives, with winners receiving financial awards and study trips to the Netherlands to gain exposure to advanced farming systems and technologies.Representing the Guest of Honour, Andrew Byaruhanga from the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Uganda, said the initiative is opening global pathways for Ugandan farmers. He noted that exposure visits have already yielded partnerships and export opportunities, citing a farmer from Northern Uganda who is now exporting coffee to the Netherlands through connections built under the platform. He added that the embassy has committed funding support for the next four years to sustain farmer exposure and partnerships.Don Wanyama, CEO of Vision Group, said the competition has so far recognised over 130 farmers nationwide and continues to drive investment and innovation. He revealed that Vision Group invests about UGX 2 billion annually into the initiative to promote commercial agriculture over subsistence farming, emphasising that cooperatives are central to unlocking value and national productivity.Industry experts also underscored the technical and structural gaps the competition seeks to address. Emma Naluyima, a judge who participated in the first cohort, said farmers must embrace professionalism, financial discipline and cooperation to compete effectively. She noted that up to 80 percent of livestock farming costs go into feed, highlighting the role of partners like De Heus in strengthening input systems. She urged farmers to adopt record keeping, formal banking and value addition, while leveraging platforms like dfcu Foundation to bridge knowledge and technical gaps.In a speech, KLM Country Manager Lukiya Otema said partnerships within the initiative are designed to drive innovation and long-term sustainability, noting that collaboration is critical in building resilient agricultural enterprises for the future.Since its inception in 2014, the Best Farmers Competition has evolved into one of Uganda’s most influential agricultural platforms, profiling over 115 farmers across the country and intensifying competition in a sector increasingly seen as Uganda’s next frontier for wealth creation. The post dfcu Bank Positions Farming as Big Business Through the Best Farmers Competition appeared first on Business Focus.