Faculty Team Leader: 

Prof. Josephine Allan – jaa7@cornell.edu 

Project Location : 

Mukumu Fresh Produce Limited operates an agro-enterprise which is located in Mityana, one and a half hour’s drive to the West of Kampala Uganda. 

Type of organization:

Private business 

A small family enterprise run by Mary and Kirabo Lukwago both of whom are in their sixties. The chief objective of the business is to output horticultural produce for both local consumption and the export market. The enterprise is four years old and the farm sits on 30 acres where 13 full time personnel are employed. It utilizes both natural rain and drip irrigation. 

We are currently focusing on sweet pepper (capsicum) for the local market and chilies for export. The export produce goes to Europe and the Middle East. These are our main crops but we also seasonally grow – at a smaller scale – supplementary produce to bridge off-season gaps. 

Our goal is to build a viable commercial enterprise that also has an impact on the local community where we operate from. 

Note: In January, Mukumu will be right in the midst of harvesting, drying and packaging a lot of chilies.  Additionally, we will be having young chilies so will not have any gaps for supply.  There will be other crops in the farm like bell peppers (yellow and red) which will be ready for harvest and need to be marketed and sold in the local markets and supermarkets.  We have a few matooke and plantain as well – not necessarily for sale, but here and there we do sell when we have too much in the farm for our consumption. 

Website: 

Still under development

Video: 

The CEO of Mukumu, Mary Lukwago, is featured in this video:

Definition of Task:

Our goal is to develop the farm into a viable commercial enterprise that serves both the local and export markets. The team would help us to put together a water-tight business plan that addresses all aspects of the enterprise including value addition as well as community responsibility. We tend to keep the local vs. export markets ratio at about 1:4.  

We will expose the team to all levels of the value chain so that they could help to identify where the gaps could be and possibly how to circumvent them. 

Skill Requirements:

Business Management, Agronomy (or at least an interest in), Marketing and some Social Science. 

Suggested Timeline and Logistics: 

Team would arrive in Kampala and stay for two nights for briefing, orientation and task articulation. Then they would move to the farm for four days following which they would visit and interview various consumers of our product. The specifics would be determined after articulating the task. At the farm they would stay at a hotel 15 minutes away. 

Dates:

7 – 17 January, 2018