President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has inaugurated the De Heus Fish Feed Factory in Njeru, Buikwe District — the country’s first locally based facility dedicated to fish feed.
The plant is run by De Heus Uganda, part of Royal De Heus, a Dutch family-owned company with more than three centuries of milling experience. Globally, the firm is among the top ten animal nutrition companies and is already well known in Uganda through its Koudijs brand, which has dominated livestock feed categories since 2018.
Museveni said the new factory addresses a “critical gap” in the country’s aquaculture sector. He also revealed that land has been allocated to the company in Bukalasa for future poultry feed production.
“Today, I officially commissioned the De Heus Fish Feed Factory in Njeru, Buikwe District,” Museveni wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “This development follows my recent PDM tour which included fish farming. I addressed the challenge of fish feed availability with the National Enterprise Corporation, and I am happy to see this solution through private sector investment from the Netherlands.”
He added: “This factory fills a vital gap. Now, we need to produce quality raw materials like maize and sunflower and evaluate soybean profitability with farmers, possibly forming an association for soybean growers.”
The President said his tours under the Parish Development Model (PDM) revealed a shortage of fish feed as a major bottleneck for farmers. Initially, he had tasked the army-run National Enterprise Corporation to explore production. But De Heus’ entry, he argued, is a better solution.
“When I was touring, I was told the problem is fish feed. I didn’t know this was a problem because I thought we had planners in the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development,” he said.
He went on: “But now this is a better solution than the one I was trying through the army company because, first of all, these people are bringing in new capital from outside… Secondly, these are the people with long experience in how to do it well.”
Museveni pledged to ensure access to affordable raw materials for feed production and said rice farmers in wetlands should shift to fish farming at the edges of swamps. “Rice growing in the swamps was a big mistake because it affects the rain system of Uganda. It is very dangerous,” he said.
The president also pointed to new investment opportunities, citing a pledge of $80 million announced by the Dutch ambassador.
The Minister of State for Fisheries, Hellen Adoa, called the factory a breakthrough. “The biggest challenge we have been having in the Agriculture Ministry is the issue of fish feed. The fish in Uganda has not been having any feed except that we had to import it, but now we manufacture it here,” she said.
Dutch Ambassador Frederieke Quispel praised the partnership: “The collaboration between Uganda and the Netherlands is at its best. Your Excellency, what makes both countries good partners in business, I think, is that we are both historical agricultural nations; our economies are built on agriculture. The Netherlands are the largest Foreign Direct Investor in Uganda.”
She credited Uganda’s ambassador to the Netherlands, Mirjam Blaak Sow, for championing the project. Sow, in turn, praised the Dutch envoy’s “energetic and youthful way of handling matters.”
From the company side, Co de Heus, CEO of De Heus Animal Nutrition, said the firm’s model rests on combining investment with expertise. “Our investments have always focused on growing demand and the need for capital and know-how,” he said. “Providing farmers with quality feeds and the right services has been central to our global success.”
Bon Tjeenk Willink, managing director of De Heus Uganda, said the new facility represents years of work. “For the last two years, we have invested nearly USD 25 million and today, before you stands the largest fish feed factory in East Africa. At full capacity, this facility can produce up to 100,000 tonnes of fish feed each year, supporting 7,000–10,000 jobs,” he said.
The event drew several government officials, including State Minister Diana Mutasingwa, the Buikwe District Woman MP.
