James Karuga | July 31, 2026
News Brief
A 31-year-old journalist-turned-social entrepreneur is spreading the word about circular regenerative agriculture in Kamwenge district, Western Uganda. Myers Ndyabawe founded Simbula Ventures as a social enterprise that trains farmers on a seven-acre farm, where they grow maize, beans, sugarcane, mushrooms, bananas, and coffee. Of the 192 farmers trained, 70% are women and youth. Farmers learn about various practices that use readily available materials to improve soil health, fertility, and yields, including mulching, agroforestry, terracing, and intercropping. “The message for young farmers is that they are the leaders of today and tomorrow and they should leave a good environment for the next generation by practicing circular regenerative agriculture, and protecting the environment and feeding it,” says Mr. Ndyabawe.
Myers Ndyabawe grew up in Kibuku village, at Kamwenge district of Western Uganda, in a subsistence farming household. The 31-year-old journalist- turned-social entrepreneur witnessed the challenges farmers faced due to long droughts caused by erratic rains. He also noticed with time, over cultivation resulted in degraded soils that caused low crop yields. Amidst that, the population was rapidly growing and arable land was becoming scarcer which exacerbated food insecurity, in light of climate change.
Following his studies in journalism and communications, Mr. Ndyabawe came across information on circular and regenerative agriculture, which sparked his interest as a passionate environmentalist. He founded Simbula Ventures, a social enterprise that trains farmers on circular regenerative agriculture practices on a seven-acre farm, where they grow maize, beans, sugarcane, mushrooms, bananas, and coffee. Of the 192 farmers trained, 70% are women and youth. Farmers learn about various practices that use readily available materials to improve soil health, fertility, and yields, including mulching, agroforestry, terracing, and intercropping.
Mr. Ndyabawe says, “I realised our soils no longer performed like they used to, and prolonged droughts and unpredictable rain patterns posed a threat to our productivity. We had to look around for solutions. I saw how yields increased where we applied animal manure.”
The training farm is littered with mulch from dry crop stalk from maize and sugarcane, which boosts soil fertility and conserves moisture for growing crops. Agroforestry is also practiced and trees like ficus and albizia coriaria are planted to shade the coffee-banana intercrop. Albizia coriaria, being a legume tree, boosts soil fertility by fixing nitrogen into the soil. Both trees also have a robust root system that anchors the soil and prevents erosion especially when it rains.
Simbula Ventures also trains farmers to grow cover crops that protect the soil surface by suppressing weeds, reducing erosion, and to dig trenches for harvesting rainwater on slopping land. Farmers are also taught to make compost manure to improve the soil’s water retention capacity and fertility. And, how to repurpose agricultural “waste” like cobs, husks, and stalks into substrate for growing mushrooms, which can boost households’ food security and incomes.
Amos Kabole, a young farmer from the district, mulches his farm with stalks, and has dug trenches to harvest rainwater and prevent soil erosion at his slopping farm. He learned these techniques from Simbula Ventures. He is also rearing goats, which provide compost manure for his coffee and bananas intercrop.
Mr. Ndyabawe says, “Arable land is not growing, yet populations are, and that means more mouths to feed. So, we should look at ways we can protect our environment, if we want it to be productive.”
Simbula Ventures aims to introduce post-harvest and value addition innovations for their farming communities in the near future. But they have a basic solar dryer that dries mushrooms in hygienic and controlled settings to reduce spoilage and increase shelf life. They also use tarpaulins to dry their coffee while encouraging their farmers to also do so, to ensure their berries are hygienic and solid quality that is acceptable in the market.
Mr. Ndyabawe beams since he has witnessed farmers doubling their yields and increasing their incomes after adopting the circular regenerative agriculture practices. Some farmers who had abandoned their degraded, small land parcels with coffee trees, are earning at least $269 US yearly, and those growing vegetables, mushrooms, and poultry have increased their incomes by about $40.38 US monthly. As a result, Simbula Ventures are teaching them record keeping, basic financial literacy, and market engagement.
“The message for young farmers is that they are the leaders of today and tomorrow and they should leave a good environment for the next generation by practicing circular regenerative agriculture, and protecting the environment and feeding it,” says Mr. Ndyabawe.
This resource is funded by the IKEA Foundation under the project “Sustainable Dialogue and Knowledge Sharing Communication Platforms”