By Nanteza Ruth Walusimbi
JINJA
dfcu bank in partnership with META Plant & Equipment Uganda the sole distributors of New Holland Tractors together with ICEA Insurance have embarked on engaging Sugarcane farmers in Busoga to embrace mechanized farming to boost productivity.
The initiative was unveiled at Kakira Sugar Factory on Thursday 19th March, 2026.
The initiative is designed to provide affordable financing solutions for farmers and agribusinesses, enabling them to acquire modern farm machinery and scale up production.
Speaking at the launch, dfcu Bank’s Gloria Namutebi Ssuuna in charge of Vehicle and Asset financing said that the initiative will enable farmers acquire farm equipment like planters, tractors and harrows that will enable them to improve productivity.
“Through Asset Financing, farmers will need no collateral because the equipment itself will act as the collateral and full payment will be made in a period of Five years. All that we need as a bank is the statement of the farmer either individually or under a registered SACCO.” Said Namutebi.
Farmers will access tractor financing at an annual interest rate of 12 percent with an insurance cover, in collaboration with ICEA Lion, to protect farmers against potential risks associated with the equipment.
Meta Plant and Equipment Uganda Marketing Executive, Dorcus Najjemba, explained that this will make modern agricultural machinery more accessible than ever before and farmers will also benefit from expert service, genuine parts and technical support for the years to come.
The tractors are highly efficient, capable of handling up to 12 acres per day across various activities such as ploughing, planting, cultivating, and harvesting.” Said Najjemba
The Chairperson of the Busoga Sugarcane Growers Association, David Christopher Mwombwe, applauded the initiative, describing it as a major step towards modernizing sugarcane farming in the region especially now that they boast of 13000 out growers currently.
“Our factories have high crushing capacity, so we must ensure a consistent supply of cane which we cannot achieve while still relying on traditional farming methods of hand hoes.” Said Mombwe.
