Uganda aims to produce 20m 60kg bags by 2030
The Government of Uganda is committed to achieving a target of producing 20 million bags of coffee by 2030.
The target which is contained in the National Coffee Road map was initially set for 2020.
Fred Kyakulaga Bwino, the Minister of State for Agriculture, says coffee is recognized by the government as a strategic commodity and promoted as such.
“We are determined to achieve the 20 million bags target. The issue is when but we are determined,” Kyakulaga said during the recent 9th International Coffee Day celebrations held at Agri Evolve Uganda Ltd in Kasese.
The Minister added that coffee connects Africa to the rest of the world.
“Coffee provides the highly needed foreign exchange to the country. We are about to reach the US$ 1 billion mark. We are [earning] around US$ 900 million from coffee exports annually. It’s the major contributor to foreign earnings for the country. It is a source of income for Ugandans. Almost two million Ugandans earn from coffee along the entire value chain,” the Minister said.
He said that convening the Day’s celebration in Kasese was in recognition of the “production, processing and trading of coffee in this region.”
“You grow great Arabica coffee with great quality. The coffee that you grow is sold in specialized markets. The coffee has unique characteristics. Intensify production of Arabica coffee. Let’s add value at the home level. Scale up production,” he said.
He also appealed to farmers to also pay attention to Robusta coffee which contributes about 80% of Uganda’s coffee production.
Speaking at the same event, Dr. Emmanuel Iyamulemye, the Managing Director at the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA), reassured the coffee stakeholders that the Authority is committed to supporting all value chain actors.
Dr. Iyamulemye told guests that UCDA has formed Parish Coffee Development Advisors to ensure farmers apply Good Agronomic Practices (GAPs) as the country aims to achieve the 20m-60kg bags of coffee by 2030. He explained that the advisors are selected by fellow farmers and approved at the sub county and the District Local Government levels.
He said the Parish Advisors will also monitor quality and report bad practices by individual farmers to the Authority.
On the new European Union (EU) regulations that require climate-smart farming, Dr. Iyamulemye said UCDA is doing everything possible to meet the requirements. Some of the requirements are that there should be no clearing of forests in a bid to create land for coffee growing. The other is that there should not be child labour anywhere in the coffee value chain.
Bukonzo East Member of Parliament, Harold Tonny Muhindo, commended UCDA for being a true enabler to the farmers and others actors along the entire coffee value chain.
He appealed to UCDA to get farmers improved coffee varieties which are compatible with the soils in the region.
He also asked government to investment in organic manure.
“We don’t want to contaminate our coffee with inorganic fertilizers. We need good organic manure at a modest fee for high yields,” he said.
He also appealed to UCDA to look into the issue of spacing.
“Let’s open up on the planting methods. Those in Brazil are not taking measurements that we have. They are harvesting more coffee than we are in Uganda on the same piece of land. Can we find out what works for us so that the production is at the highest level?” Muhindo said.
Speaking on behalf of Rwenzori Region Coffee Stakeholders, Charles Mugisha, thanked UCDA for the supporting, noting that members of their association have received free inputs including Arabica and Robusta Coffee Wilt Disease Resistant varieties.
He said that as a result of the support from UCDA, there is increased investment in the coffee sub sector by both individuals and companies.
He, however, decried the high cost of agro-chemicals and inputs on the market.
He added that the fake inputs on the market remains a big challenge to farmers.
To promote value addition in the region, UCDA gave out 13 wet mills to farmers to scale up wet processing.
