Rubuguri Shrooms

Rubuguri Shrooms, a project initiated and managed by professional chef Lewis Emanzi, exemplifies local entrepreneurship in Uganda. With a background in hospitality and catering in Entebbe, Lewis brings his expertise to the village of Rubuguri, cultivating mushrooms in a small grow room measuring approximately 3m x 4m. Currently, this space produces up to 250kg of oyster mushrooms per harvest.

Our goal is to increase production capacity to supply mushrooms to other local villages and towns. However, distribution remains a significant challenge due to the weak road infrastructure in Rubuguri. Despite these obstacles, our mushrooms play a crucial role in supporting the community.

The mushrooms grown at Rubuguri Shrooms help feed the children at Glow Community School - providing them with nutritious meals essential for their growth and development. Additionally, during the high tourist season, we sell our mushrooms to local tourism lodges, which cater to visitors tracking gorillas in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.

By creating small businesses, we aim to make our organization's goals more self-sustaining in the long run. Supporting and expanding local businesses like these can significantly contribute to the economic growth and stability of our region, and help us move away from having to rely on donations.