📸 2026 Best Farmers Competition launched
The 2026 competition is under the theme: Farming as a Business; Growth, Commercialisation, and Cooperatives.
The deputy ambassador of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Uganda, Bouwe-Jan Smeding, presided over the ceremony as the chief guest. (Credit: Miriam Namutebi)
JINJA - The 12th edition of the Best Farmers Competition was unveiled Tuesday at De Heus/Koudijs Animal Nutrition Plant in Njeru, Jinja district.
The deputy ambassador of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Uganda, Bouwe-Jan Smeding, presided over the ceremony as the chief guest.
The New Vision Foundation Manager, John Eremu, indicated that it was the first time the competition was held under the newly established Vision Initiative for Sustainable Agriculture (VISA) framework.
The VISA programme comprises a consortium of carefully selected four partners: Vision Group (sponsor and implementing partner), ASIGMA Capital Advisory Services Limited, the Strategic Advisory and Research Consulting Limited (SARC) and EMSA Emerging Markets Africa, a Netherlands-based organisation.
The consortium is coordinated by the New Vision Foundation, which is an independent charity and social enterprise arm of Vision Group.
The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Kampala, through a four-year grant totalling euro 1m (about sh4.148b), has been an outstanding sponsor of the initiative.
The other sponsors of the programme include dfcu Bank, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, De Heus/Koudijs Nutrition BV and Vision Group, Uganda’s leading media house.
The 2026 competition is under the theme: Farming as a Business; Growth, Commercialisation, and Cooperatives.
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Multimedia journalist Miriam Namutebi covered the event as highlighted in the pictures below;
Vision Group Chief Executive Officer Don Wanyama speaking to attendees.
Deputy ambassador of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Uganda, Bouwe-Jan Smeding, presided over the ceremony as the chief guest.
Mathias Jumba from dfcu Bank remarks 
The New Vision Foundation Manager, John Eremu.
The Best Farmers Competition was initiated by Vision Group in 2014, and since its inception, it has become one of Uganda’s most respected initiatives for recognising excellence in agriculture.
Over the past 10 editions, missing only one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in 2021, the competition has celebrated 124 winners across 10 sub-regions of the country.
One of the most significant developments in the 2026 edition, is the expansion of the competition to include large-scale commercial farmers and agricultural cooperatives in addition to medium-scale and small-scale farmers, who have been the bedrock of the competition since its founding.
2026 Best Farmers Competition applicants must hold a Uganda National Bureau of Standards seal, must meet all good environmental/waste management practices, have no employment record of children in any of their production processes, and should have a robust anti-sexual harassment and exploitation policy.
