Patrick Mukasa opens up on painful cassava investment that left him in tears

• Patrick Mukasa revealed he lost over Shs30 million in a failed cassava farming project meant to supply industrial buyers.

• His story was prompted by Samson Kasumba’s remarks about idle factories lacking enough cassava supply in Uganda.

• Mukasa said poor market coordination, shifting buyer demands, and middlemen exploitation left him devastated and in debt.

NTV news anchor Patrick Mukasa has opened up about one of the most painful experiences of his life — a failed cassava farming venture that cost him millions of shillings and left him emotionally drained.

Mukasa revealed that about seven years ago, he invested all his savings and even took a loan to venture into cassava farming after being convinced that the crop was in high demand for industrial use.

“I hired 20 acres in Kabutuukulu–Masindi and planted the NASE 14 cassava variety after being told it was needed to produce Ngule beer,” he said. “When harvest time reached, the same buyers changed the story. They now wanted white flour, which required machines I couldn’t afford.”

He explained that the switch in market requirements left him stranded and in heavy loss.

“They even told me that I couldn’t sell directly to them. I had to go through a middleman who had the contract. I wish they had told me all this before I invested my hard-earned money,” Mukasa shared.

His revelation stemmed from a post by NBS news anchor Samson Kasumba, who had earlier commented on Uganda’s low agricultural productivity despite the high rate of unemployment.

Kasumba had noted that factories and exporters struggle to get enough raw materials while many young people remain jobless.

“There is a factory that is idle because it requires 500 tons of cassava every day. I hear we have no jobs. We do not have that cassava in Uganda,” Kasumba wrote. “I know someone who cannot fill the quota of pineapples he has to export. We are all on Boda Boda.”

Mukasa said his own experience was a harsh lesson about the challenges farmers face behind the glowing promises of agribusiness.

“I ended up selling some cassava at giveaway prices because I was desperate. I invested about 30 million hoping to make over 100 million in profits. I got only about a million shillings back,” he said.
“I left the rest in the garden and never went back. It took me years to clear the loan and recover psychologically.”

Apparently, his story reflects the struggles many Ugandan farmers face — high expectations, shifting markets, and middlemen who benefit while producers suffer.