Background
History
NUAC was established in 2003 starting with 2 tractors with the aim off opening land for local farmers. The two owners were a Ugandan and Kim Johansen (a Danish National respectively). The Ugandan became the operational manager and Kim continued working abroad. In 2005 Nick Ziegler, a Danish farmer joined in and the company acquired its first own land.
The opening of land for farmers were not very successful, as farmers did not clear their land proper, thereby the tractors got many damages.
Another big problem was that the war in the north continued until 2007. This delayed all activities.
In 2006 NUAC started production on own land. First season was hit by drought and crops lost. In general, the acquired land was not very suitable for agriculture
In late 2007 NUAC got access to prime land where it planned to start production of various crops. Though NUAC through its Ugandan partner had right to operate on the land, NUAC was invaded 4 times illegally and until it was settled more than a year was lost.
In 2010 Kim Johansen then became full time overall manager of NUAC. End of 2010 a new Danish shareholder Soren Naesborg joined. 2010 was a period of “restarting” the company. 2012 has also seen African Agricultural Capital Fund joining hands with NUAC farm
In 2013 Kim sold his shares to Søren / NUAC Denmark Aps and in 2019 Peter Bruun was hired as Farm Manager.
Today NUAC operates as a modern commercial farm, divided into three business units: 1) Farming, contracting and workshop 2) post-harvest handling and 3) Forestry and cash crop.
NUAC has 6000 acres of land, divided into 4.800 acres for farming (maize, rice & soya), 1500 acres planned for forestry (Teak, Pine, Eucalyptus) and 500 acres planned for cash crops for export (Macadamia, Cashew).
In the past three years, all business units have slowly – but steadily – grown, which has enabled NUAC to turn past investments into a small positive financial bottom-line. NUAC’s progress until this point shows the leadership’s commitment to building a successful agri-business. It furthermore underlines that NUAC also will be here in future.