David Kasura Kyomukama, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture
The Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) has claimed credit for increasing Uganda’s coffee exports in just a year after taking over Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA).
David Kasura Kyomukama, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture made the remarks while appearing before Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on 24th February 2026, to respond to queries raised in the December 2025 Auditor General’s report.
“Because of the good work of this committee with the Ministry of Agriculture, we have expanded the output from agriculture export from about US$2Bn, we now export about US$4.12Bn (UGX15.070Trn) worth of goods. These are the figures from Bank of Uganda last year, this represents about 30 percent of the total exports of Uganda. Of course, we are helped with coffee. You remember that when they were rationalising the UCDA, many people really were prophets of doom,” Kasura explained.
He added: “But I am glad to say that under our watch, the export of coffee has more than doubled. We are now exporting about US$2.2Bn (UGX7.890Trn) worth of coffee. We intend to double this, hopefully. And this is out of good management, out of research, out of the work of your guidance and other people, and of the hard work of the men and women who might happen to have the opportunity to lead.”
However, MPs say that it is too early for the Ministry to claim the success because the coffee exported within this period was planted during the reign of UCDA, and there is increased complaints by farmers on lack of coffee seedlings and limited access to extension workers, which wasn’t the case during UCDA era.
Xavier Kyooma (Ibanda North) said that coffee being exported wasn’t planted during the reign of the Ministry of Agriculture, rather under UCDA regulation.
“I appreciate your submissions, but as to whether the exports more than doubled or exports increase can be attributed to the Ministry, since UCDA was taken to the Ministry, that one is debatable, because UCDA has just been taken to the Ministry, the immediate increase cannot really be attributed to that, because that means that coffee was already grown,” he said.
However, Kasura defended his bragging rights arguing, “I take credit because it is our brains which thought up this strategy. I take credit for this and for saying, it is a natural progression from coffee marketing board. You remember that from 1962, actually from the times of those colonialists to about 1990s, coffee was being regulated by a body, coffee marketing board, which would even decide the price. But now, the private sector dictates the price. Now, the fact that we have thought that let us take away our hands from spoiling, is itself something to be commended.”
Kyooma also decried the limited access to extension services reporting that unlike during the UCDA reign where farmers had access to extension services, things have since changed and now, some farmers in Ibanda are reporting coffee plants drying up.
Igantius Mudimi (Elgon County) also pointed out that there has been a notable decline of access to extension services and monitoring, a gap that has seen farmers mix coffee with foreign products in order to boost the volumes of their bags.
Asuman Basalirwa (Bugiri Municipality) raised concerns over the failure by both UCDA and Ministry of Agriculture to clear arrears of coffee seedling farmers that supplied to Government but are yet to be cleared.
The Vice Chairperson, Public Accounts Committee, Gorreth Namugga raised concerns on the absence of extension workers at the districts, describing the current team as idle.
“We know we operate under a decentralised system of operation in line to giving services to our people and I know it’s not the ministry that directly recruits agriculture extension workers but they are still accountable to the ministry. You have the idlest team on ground,” she said.
