How she turned inherited land into a money-making venture

Jane Frances Acilo belongs to the school of thought which says no woman is independent until she can make her own money.

“It’s very key as a woman to be able to earn your own money,” she told Nation in a recent interview in Nairobi. “It gives you autonomy over your own life.” 

She went on: “As a woman, the reason why you suffer or sometimes feel like you’re in a hopeless place is because you don’t have your own money. You have to figure out a way to be productive and to earn an income.”

The northern Uganda region where she comes from is inhabited by Luos, an extension of the Kenyan tribe across the border.

“I’m actually Luo, but from Uganda,” she said, noting that their cultural practices, for instance, the naming of children, resemble those of Kenya’s Luos.

In the Oyam District of northern Uganda, some of the hats she wears include those of farmer, real estate investor, philanthropist, and politician. Her 40-acre farm, which she inherited from her late mother, is a core pillar of her activities.

“She did quite well for herself as a single mum and was able to leave me property that could help me start a real estate business and also to start a farm,” Jane said of her late mother, Dr Caroline Abeja, who died in 2017.

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Figures seen by Nation indicate that the farm has an annual turnover of between USh119 million and USh154.4 million (Sh3.7 million to Sh4.8 million).

The largest annual revenue from her farm comes from horticultural produce – that is cucumbers, sweet peppers, onions and cabbages.
Gonja, a variety of plantains, is second on the list, while the third position is taken by other banana varieties that include matoke, bogoya (long banana variety) and sweet banana.

“It’s the biggest banana plantation in Oyam district,” she claimed.

Honey is the last on the list, generating about Ush10 million (Sh311,000) a year.

Jane’s journey has moved through formal employment, entrepreneurship, philanthropy and politics. After university, she worked for three years as a systems analyst at Uganda’s National Water and Housing Corporation. When her contract ended, she chose self-employment, establishing Abja Estates and Abja Farms. The name “Abja”, she said, was derived from her name and her mother’s.

On the farm, about 18 of the 40 acres are devoted to plantain alongside seasonal greenhouse vegetables, an apiary and a poultry project. 

“Traditionally in Uganda, the north doesn’t really grow bananas,” said Jane.

Farmers were sceptical when she began, but she persisted, irrigating during the dry season and applying organic fertiliser. The farm first grew matoke before switching to plantain, which proved more resilient in the region’s dry conditions. 

Kenya has become one of the markets for the farm’s plantain and honey.

“I had a buyer who used to come weekly until they almost took everything that I had,” she said, adding that there is always more demand than she can supply.

“These are opportunities that are there for us within Africa and East Africa to be able to trade with each other,” noted Jane. “As a collective and as a community, we’re not so big on commercial farming. Most people are farming on a subsistence level. So, opportunity is there for us across these countries to be able to scale up our production and then we’ll be able to meet some of this demand.”

Her model targets extracting greater productivity from limited land. The farm’s permanent workforce of 23 staff is supported by casual labour during busy periods, while its beekeeping programme trains community members to supplement honey production. 

She confessed that it is not always rosy with agriculture. A while back, a disease outbreak forced her to cut down almost 10 acres of bananas.

“It didn’t feel good,” she said.

The infection had spread from poorly managed neighbouring farms, prompting her to sensitise surrounding growers.

“As the big farmer around, you also have to take the initiative to make sure that the people around you are doing the right thing because it affects you."

Asked about insurance in Uganda’s agriculture sector, she replied: “Yes, you can insure your farm animals and crops. We do have insurance solutions by the insurance companies.”

She also noted that the banking sector has been warming up to farmers.

Even the banking sector is also finally starting to wake up to the potential of agriculture. It has been a big challenge where most times they don’t want to invest in farmers, but right now there’s been a shift. In the last two or three years, there’s been a lot of interest coming from the banks towards that,” she said.

She advised aspiring plantain farmers to test the soil, choose varieties suited to local conditions and begin at a manageable scale.

“There’s no secret,” she said. “Just get a few suckers, plant it in your garden, try it out, see how it does, and then scale up from there.” 

Also read: Inside Jacinta Kioko’s daily struggle to balance motherhood, farming and housework

Jane’s real estate company grew from managing inherited properties into construction, including projects for clients in the diaspora. Although she initially imagined flipping houses, opportunities drew her into drainage works and broader construction. 

Her next ambition is technology. Abja Estates, she said, is developing an online platform intended to connect customers with plumbers, electricians, handymen and other skilled workers.

Jane described it as bringing everyday real estate services “closer to the people, at the tap of a button”. 

“I’m looking to spread it out across East Africa,” she said.

“We are currently developing a solution that will be able to spread across not just East Africa but even Africa as a whole.”

The concept also aims to establish vocational schools that can equip unemployed young people with practical skills and then connect them to earning opportunities through the platform.

During Uganda’s General Election in January 2026, Jane was the flag-bearer for President Yoweri Museveni’s party, the National Resistance Movement (NRM), as the candidate for the Oyam District Woman MP.

She received President Museveni’s endorsement to run in the area known to be an opposition stronghold. She did not win the seat, which was captured by Santa Alum Ogwang of the Uganda People's Congress (UPC), but she emerged with many lessons.

She said the campaign deepened her understanding of leadership and the gap between citizens and long-serving political representatives. 
Like many women seeking office in East Africa, she encountered gendered rumours and personal attacks.

“Propaganda is something you have to learn how to manage,” she said. “You wake up and hear a story about yourself, and you’re also intrigued to know what happened next.”

Opponents’ stories, she adds, can consume a candidate’s time and divert attention from her programme. She says the best way to handle that is by staying focused.

“You have to develop that mindset whereby you know what your goal is and what you want to do for your people,” she said. “Do not derail from that.” 

She is also engaged in philanthropy through the Jane Acilo Foundation, whose work centres on education and health.

The foundation runs the Dr Caroline Abeja Education Grant, named after Jane’s mother, and sponsors students who otherwise might miss out on education.

Asked to give advice to women who want to venture into business, she advocated for starting small.

“You might not start by employing 10 people or 20 people. You might just start by being your only employee, but as you scale and as you grow, tomorrow you’ll have two employees or five employees,” Jane reasoned.

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