By Mulengera Reporters
When Eunice Birungi looks across her banana plantation in Nkinga I Village, Rubirizi District, she sees more than rows of healthy banana plants. She sees a journey of determination, investment and opportunity.
Not long ago, the plantation was in poor condition. Her livestock enterprise was equally modest. Eunice had two cows, practised zero grazing and had no dedicated system for producing or purchasing adequate feeds for them.
Today, the picture is different.
The transformation began when Eunice received her first UGX 25 million loan through the Generating Growth Opportunities and Productivity for Women Enterprises (GROW) Project.
“I got 25 million as my first GROW loan, which has helped me profusely,” she says.
Rather than putting the money into a single venture, Eunice invested strategically across the agricultural activities that support her household — improving her banana plantation, expanding her dairy enterprise, keeping poultry and investing in pigs.
Turning an old plantation into a productive enterprise
One of her first priorities was restoring the quality of her banana plantation.
With better investment in the farm, the quality of her bananas improved significantly. That improvement translated directly into better prices.
“Previously I was selling a bunch at 8,000 shillings, but since I started producing some good-quality bananas, I started selling them between 18,000 and 20,000 shillings,” she explains.
For Eunice, this was an important lesson: investing in quality could turn an ordinary agricultural activity into a stronger source of income.
She also invested in her dairy enterprise, purchasing a third cow to add to the two she already owned.
But buying another cow was only part of the plan. Eunice began purchasing feeds and planting grass specifically for her animals.
The result has been increased milk production.
“I not only zero graze, but also started buying feeds for my cows. I also started planting grass for my cows. Now they feed well and milk production has increased,” she says.
Growing several enterprises, growing one family
Eunice did not stop with bananas and dairy.
Part of the loan was invested in poultry keeping, which she says generated profits. She also ventured into piggery, where her pigs produced eight piglets.
She sold each piglet for UGX 100,000, generating income that helped her meet one of the most important responsibilities in her life: educating her children.
“I personally used the profits to pay school fees for my children — two at university and others in secondary school,” she says.
For Eunice, the value of the GROW financing is therefore not measured only by cows, bananas, pigs or poultry. It is also measured in classrooms, university opportunities and the prospects of a better future for her children.
Her story illustrates how access to capital can have effects beyond an individual enterprise when women invest their earnings back into their households and productive activities.
An opportunity to move forward
The Generating Growth Opportunities and Productivity for Women Enterprises (GROW) Project is a Government of Uganda initiative funded by the World Bank, with a reported project value of US$217 million, designed to empower women entrepreneurs and support the growth of their businesses.
Implemented with the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development and the Private Sector Foundation Uganda, the project seeks to help women transition enterprises from micro to small and from small to medium scale, while improving productivity.
The initiative combines business skills development with access to affordable financing and investments in facilities and infrastructure that can support women-led enterprises.
For women entrepreneurs, particularly those operating in the informal sector, access to affordable finance can provide an opportunity to invest in productive assets, expand enterprises and strengthen household livelihoods.
Eunice’s experience is a practical example of that journey.
“I am thankful to the GROW Project for giving me the loan since I had asked for an agricultural loan,” she says.
“I steadily improved from one step to another”
Perhaps the most powerful part of Eunice’s story is not how much she received, but what she did with the opportunity.
She invested. She improved. She diversified. And she reinvested the returns into her family.
“When I got it, I steadily improved from one step to another,” she says.
She is now calling for more women in Uganda’s informal sector to have similar opportunities.
“I also thank the government for considering the women in the informal sector, providing us with funds at a low interest rate so that we use it to develop our families,” she says.
Eunice hopes the support can reach even more women who have ideas and businesses but lack the capital needed to take them to the next level.
“I commend the Government to support other women like me in the informal sector to grow from one level to another.”
From a struggling banana plantation to better-quality produce, from two cows to three, from limited livestock feeding to deliberate investment in animal nutrition, and from enterprise profits to university tuition, Eunice Birungi’s story is ultimately about what becomes possible when opportunity meets determination.
Her farm is growing.
Her businesses are growing.
And, one step at a time, so is her family’s future. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
