Assumpta Nakalema

When Assumpta Nakalema began her university final-year project, she had no idea it would one day evolve into a company changing the lives of thousands of farmers. Today, at just 26 years old, the IT engineer and founder of Hatchrite Co. Ltd stands among Uganda’s rising tech innovators—proving that digital innovation can create tangible impact where it matters most: on the farm.
Hatchrite Co. Ltd manufactures locally produced poultry equipment, including solar-powered egg incubators and brooding systems, while offering vaccination and training services to farmers. The venture has grown from a modest experiment into a thriving business that has benefited more than 5,000 farmers across Uganda, particularly in rural communities that once struggled with costly, low-quality imported equipment.
Assumpta’s story is deeply personal. Growing up, chicken was a luxury in her family—served only at Christmas, with eggs reserved for her father on special occasions. These experiences sparked her lifelong affection for poultry and later inspired her to seek sustainable solutions that could make quality poultry products accessible to all.
As a Computer Science student, she used her final-year project to explore ways of increasing poultry productivity through technology. She designed a solar-powered egg incubator—a concept that combined her technical expertise with her passion for poultry. What started as an academic experiment quickly became a viable agritech solution addressing real market needs.
“I wanted to build something that would work for farmers at the village level—reliable, affordable, and easy to use,” she recalls. “That’s how Hatchrite was born.”
Driven by a mission to contribute to Zero Hunger and poverty reduction, Assumpta uses technology not just for automation but also for empowerment. Her solar incubators enable consistent hatching, reduce losses, and cut production costs—helping farmers earn more, waste less, and stay resilient even in areas without reliable electricity.
Beyond selling machines, Hatchrite provides training and vaccination support that helps women and youth farmers build profitable poultry enterprises. By linking digital engineering with agriculture, Assumpta is proving that hardware innovation can play a major role in advancing food security.
Hatchrite’s social and economic impact has earned widespread recognition, positioning Assumpta as a leading example of Africa’s next generation of innovators. In 2024, her enterprise was named Overall Winner of the AyuTe Africa Challenge (Season 3), securing UGX 50 million (US$ 13,500) to scale production. In 2025, she received the Youth of the Year Award from Uganda’s Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, and also won the StartHub Innovate for Food Security competition.
“These recognitions affirm that locally developed solutions can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with global technology,” she says.
Looking ahead, Assumpta plans to expand Hatchrite’s manufacturing capacity to reach over 20,000 farmers, introduce new innovations in poultry management equipment, and establish regional distribution networks across East Africa. She is also developing a youth training program in agri-tech manufacturing, aimed at equipping young people with both technical and entrepreneurial skills.
Her long-term vision is clear: to prove that young African women engineers can lead industrial innovation that transforms rural economies. “I want to show that local technology—built by our own hands—can compete globally and empower communities,” she says.
Through Hatchrite Co. Ltd, Nakalema Assumpta is not just engineering machines—she’s engineering possibilities, inspiring a new generation to see technology as a tool for self-reliance, food security, and hope across Africa’s farmlands.