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BCU Awards 234 University Bursaries

28 October, 2025
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The Bugisu Cooperative Union (BCU) has awarded 234 university bursaries to students, fully funded through proceeds from the union’s coffee sales.


The bursaries are part of BCU’s unique patronage system, which ties educational support to coffee production. Farmers qualify for a bursary when they deliver at least 300 kilograms of coffee to the union. A threshold of 250 patronage points secures a student’s eligibility for the scholarship.

Speaking at the award ceremony, Hon. Sasaga Isaiah Wanzira praised Hon. Nathan Nandala Mafabi for revitalizing the union by mobilizing farmers to increase coffee supply, demand, and market reach. Wanzira emphasized that this collective success has played a key role in promoting education across the region. He further noted that BCU demonstrates its commitment to its members by allocating funds annually to support farmers’ children attending various universities across Uganda.

BCU General Manager, Ms. Barbra Wasagali, confirmed that the 234 bursaries amount to a total of UGX 150 million. She explained that the number of beneficiaries was slightly lower this year due to a decline in the volume of coffee delivered to the union. Ms. Wasagali added that BCU is actively mobilizing farmers to boost production.

She also appealed to the government to take urgent action against middlemen who buy coffee directly from gardens at exploitatively low prices. She urged the government to establish designated coffee buying points to safeguard farmers’ interests.

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