Our Story
The Gulu Agricultural Development Company (GADC) was established in Uganda in the aftermath of the LRA-instigated war which devastated the Northern region for nearly 20 years.
Under the direction of owner Bruce Robertson and with a small capital injection, the company revived and took over the COO-ROM ginnery in Gulu to establish agricultural buying and processing operations which have grown organically ever since. The company has expanded to include a second ginnery in Kitgum and is currently active in the cotton, sesame, oil milling and maize milling businesses, while also participating in the chili and sunflower markets.
GADC’s products are sold on national and international markets.
GADC has been profitable in every year of operation as evidenced by audited financial statements and achieved a turnover of nearly USD 10m in 2015. The company employs over 400 permanent and casual employees, nearly all of whom are Ugandan nationals. GADC certifies farmers through Fair for Life for fair trade and Control Union (NL) for organic certification.
GADC is eager and willing to engage in public-private partnerships to improve the communities and markets it works in through sustainable and impactful concepts.
Our Background
GADC’s business has, thus far, been based on developing agricultural value chains in the post-war areas of Northern Uganda where a significant number of aspiring farmers remained in IDP camps for decades. This idle time contributed to losses in agricultural capital and knowledge.
Therefore, a significant portion of GADC’s extension work has been devoted to training and re-training farmers on good agricultural practices and farming as a business. Since 2009, the company has worked with Danida, Mercy Corps, UNDP, and GIZ to help build this capacity in distinct geographic areas and value chains throughout this region.
However, GADC realized through the company’s extensive history in the cotton sector, that the company would not survive processing cotton alone. Similarly, effectively supporting the grower base requires advocating for diversification. Thus, GADC began trading in sesame, chilies, sunflower and maize.
Geographically, the company is expanding via acquisition of the Rhino Camp Ginnery in West Nile beginning in 2016. GADC plans to train farmers and provide a market for cotton, sesame,sunflower, maize and chilis reaching 60,000 suppliers within 5 years. GADC has previous experience sourcing cotton from this region and is highly optimistic about the prospects of developing this site over the next 5-10 years.
Moving Forward
In Gulu, GADC has operated the West Acholi Cooperative Ginnery for the past 7 years and has recently invested in an oil mill for cotton seed as well as a maize mill. From this maize mill GADC produces high quality maize flour for local and regional markets. The company is currently developing a range of animal feeds using the byproducts of these two mills.
Meet Our Team
Bruce Robertson
Founder & CEO
Charles Oboth
Operations Manager
Getrude Nadongo
Senior Administrator & Treasurer
Bruce "Amooti" Arnott
Sesame Operations Manager