Students from the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES), Makerere University have come up with a user friendly and affordable technology dubbed, KeBELA BIOSENSOR to test farm produce for pesticide residues. Since access to organic agricultural market demands that produce has to be certified by an accredited certification body, KeBELA Technology is seeking to ease and quicken the process by producing an affordable and user-friendly technology, which can be employed by the certification bodies to cut down the cost of certification and hence ease access to the global organic market by farmers.
KeBELA is a handheld device that is designed to detect and quantify levels of pesticide residues in agricultural products. This innovation is led by Ambrose Kamya, a fourth year BSc. Agriculture student mentored by Prof. Fred Kabi.
This device is linked to a mobile application that automatically receives the test results using Bluetooth and centralizes all the information thereby making farmers visible in the market space as well as aiding government planning and increasing traceability for export.
The use of the mobile application linked to the gadget helps in identifying the farmer physical location by GPS coordinates. The gadget also indicates the farmers’ products tested in real time.
“We are currently working with National Organic Agriculture Movement Uganda (NOGAMU) to create a data bank of all organic farmers who can be traced by their organic produce and physical location.
The data bank will be updated by the information collected using the gadget and a highway will be used to deliver the updates to the central location.
The exporters and importers of organic products will then be able to access or trace the farmers using the data bank to which NOGAMU will have the key,” Ambrose Kamya the student explained.
This will make it easy for the importers and exporters to access farmers without necessarily visiting their farm physically.
“We have applied for a national patent to Uganda Registration Services bureau (URSB) and have got a file number. However, due to the high regional demand for the technology within the organic sector, we are applying to ARIPO for a regional patent but financial constraints have deterred the process, Kamya further said.
Proposed design of the KeBELA BIOSENSOR
Kamya was one of the CAES students that exhibited during 26th Source of the Nile Agricultural Show and Trade Fair held from 13th to 22nd July, 2018. The Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries Hon. Vincent Bamulangaki Ssempijja hailed Kamya for the technology and expressed interest to visit the CAES and interact with the students about the future of KeBELA BIOSENSOR.
Why KeBELA BIOSENSOR?
The certification process for organic farmers is expensive. This is partly because the current technologies used for testing farm produce for pesticide residues are not only sophisticated but time consuming. This has scared away many potential organic farmers from seeking certification services even when they follow ecological farming principles.
Such farmers who would be candidates for certification recruitment end up selling their produce to the conventional market thus losing out on premium prices. Therefore, despite the increasing demand for organic agricultural produce both domestically and globally, many Ugandan farmers fail to exploit this great global market opportunity worth 80billion US dollars.
According to NOGAMU, the situation can be improved if user-friendly and affordable technologies for testing pesticide residues can be developed. Since access to organic agricultural market demands that produce has to be certified by an accredited certification body, KeBELA Technology is seeking to ease and quicken the process by producing an affordable and user-friendly technology, which can be employed by the certification bodies to cut down the cost of certification and hence ease access to the global organic market by farmers.
Report compiled by;
Jane Anyango,
Principal Communication Officer, CAES
The Office of Academic Registrar, Makerere University has released lists of Successful appeals and supplementary lists. Below is a list arising from appeals of Government Sponsored candidates who have been admitted:
Makerere University and DFCU Bank have today signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to bolster innovation, student leadership, research and community impact initiatives.
The collaboration which will see the equipping of the Disability Support center for students living with disabilities through the MAK run and more leadership trainings for students will begin this July.
“The MoU will strengthen research collaborations across sectors like agriculture and health and it will also support the Mutebile Centre to assist private sector growth, which is crucial in lifting Africa out of poverty,” said Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe, the Vice Chancellor.
Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe (R) flanked by Mr. Charles Mudiwa (L) makes his remarks at the MoU signing ceremony.
Speaking during the event, Mr. Charles M. Mudiwa, the DFCU Bank Chief Executive Officer, welcomed the move, noting its alignment with the bank’s mission to transform lives and support national development through four pillars: funding, financial inclusion, enterprise development, and vocational education.
“This MoU crowns years of effort and shared intent between our institutions,” he stated. Mr. Mudiwa highlighted the bank’s commitment to skilling youth through internships, curriculum development, and support for innovation hubs and centres of excellence at the university. “We consume the graduates of Makerere. In our most recent graduate intake of 87, 60% were Makerere alumni. The bank allocates around 30 internship positions annually to equip young people with the skills necessary for future roles within the institution,” Mr. Mudiwa, noted.
Representing the student body, Guild President His Excellency, Sentamu Churchill James, commended the partnership as a timely intervention that will empower youth, support SMEs, and expand internship and leadership development opportunities.
Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe (2nd L) presents a framed portrait of the Main Building to Mr. Charles Mudiwa (C) as L-R: University Secretary-Mr. Yusuf Kiranda, 91st Guild President-H.E. Ssentamu Churchill James and Acting Deputy Vice Chancellor (Finance and Administration)-Prof. Winston Tumps Ireeta witness.
“Students are the heartbeat of the university. This collaboration will empower youth and strengthen their role in national development,” His Excellency Ssentamu, said.
About MAK RUN 2025
The Makerere Run 2025 (#MakRun2025), hosted by the Makerere University Endowment Fund (MAKEF) on 17th August 2025, returns for its fifth edition as Kampala’s premier charity marathon, uniting 8,000+ runners—students, alumni, corporate teams, and elite athletes—to tackle the city’s iconic hills under the theme “Run the Hills for the Future.” This landmark event combines competitive racing with transformative impact, channeling proceeds to strengthen Makerere University’s community programs while offering unmatched branding opportunities for partners through Kampala’s largest university-led sporting spectacle.
The Mak Run, scheduled this year for August 17th, is a flagship initiative that mobilizes students, staff, alumni, and partners to raise funds for projects such as the Disability Support Unit and the Student Centre.