Cattle
Since the Middle Ages, Ankole Cattle have been present in Uganda and Rwanda, descending from the Ethiopian Sanga cattle originating in Eurasia with a lineage dating back thousands of years, as evidenced by images of long-horned cattle found in Egyptian drawings and art. Belonging to the broader Sanga cattle group of African breeds, Ankole cows were introduced to Uganda between five and seven hundred years ago by nomadic pastoralists from northern parts of the continent. Following a successful four-year proof-of-concept trial involving four indigenous Ankole cows, Ntakye plans to expand the project to fifty cattle by 2026. Our findings indicate that indigenous Ankole cattle exhibit greater disease resistance compared to exotic breeds and require significantly less feed for maintenance.
Cuniculture
Cuniculture (Rabbit farming) is one of Africa’s fastest growing micro-livestock enterprises. In an era where climate change, population growth, and shifting meat consumption patterns are altering in developing countries. Rabbit is regarded as a sustainable source of protein and preferred for resource conservation in terms of feeding, housing and general management.
Organic Pesticide
Our organic foliar insecticide and fertiliser are mostly made from rabbit urine, giving a solution to the problems associated with dangerous synthetic pesticides. We have been experimenting with numerous combinations in order to find a successful all-around solution that we can apply on our crops and market to organic farmers in Uganda (mostly targetting coffee farmers).
Productive use of Energy (PUE) Unit
n the tropical environment of East Africa, well-suited for diverse agriculture, the productivity, yields, and revenues of the sector face challenges due to chronic energy shortages. Modern farming methods become difficult for farmers to embrace without reliable energy during production and processing. Ntakye, recognizing this issue, initiated a pilot project introducing solar-powered cow milking equipment to farmers in south-western and central Uganda. Over an 18-month period, critical data was gathered, leading to the strategic selection of the solar-integrated knapsack sprayer as the ideal product for large-scale distribution. This initiative aims to empower farmers and overcome energy-related obstacles, promoting increased productivity in the region’s agriculture sector.
Coffee
Ntakye has grown coffee on a 7-acre plot, incorporating an underground sprinkler system for efficient irrigation and ensuring year-round production. The primary variety, Coffea canephora (robusta coffee), is complemented by the Kenyan variety, batian, a predominantly arabica variety with robusta ancestry resulting from a hybridization process involving SL28, SL34, Rume Sudan, N39, K7, SL4, and Timor hybrid varieties.
The coffee is planted at 1,200 meters above sea level in the lake shore basin central region of Uganda—below the recommended altitude for arabica—the thriving batian raises questions about its potential as an alternative to climate-vulnerable arabica grown in highlands.
Ntakye’s coffee cultivation incorporates shade provided by banana plantain canopies and is indirectly nurtured by an alfalfa cover crop—an innovative, symbiotic experiment aimed at enhancing coffee production. This approach utilizes alfalfa, a nitrogen-fixing legume crop that enriches the soil with nitrogen. Simultaneously, alfalfa serves a dual purpose by acting as a high-protein feed for the rabbits we raise.
Banana
Ntakye has farmed 2.5 acres of cooking bananas, known locally as matooke. Furthermore, a sweet banana variety, locally called gonja, has been cultivated across six acres, intercropped with coffee for shade and accompanied by a cover crop of alfalfa/lucerne. Our produce is currently collected at the farm gate by a local distributor, but we are exploring strategies to directly deliver bananas to exporters to secure a higher market price.
