Farmers across Uganda are having sleepless nights over increasing coffee thefts
Farmers in Nakaseke district have decried the rampant coffee thefts amidst a price boom in the country.
According to the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA), the farmgate price of coffee for a kilogram of Kiboko is 6300-7000 Shillings, Arabica parchment is at 12,000-12,500 per kilogram and Drugar sold between 11,000-12,000 shillings per kilogram.
Coffee farmers across the country are riding on the prices and the number of growers is increasing.
But as the prices surge, farmers in Nakaseke district are crying foul over rampant thefts. At least five cases of coffee thefts are reported daily and several others go unreported by farmers.
Matiya Kabega, a coffee farmer at Kibose village in Kikamulo sub-county said they embraced coffee farming over the boom to get out of poverty but are frustrated due to rampant thefts in the villages.
Kabega said on Sunday, unknown thieves raided his garden and stole at least five tins of coffee plunging him into losses.
Janat Nabukalu, another resident of Matabi village said that the thieves harvest ripe and unripe coffee leaving them in losses. She added that some farmers had resorted to harvesting unripe coffee to minimize losses.
Richard Bogere, a resident of Kiwoko town council said although UCDA tightened restrictions on selling unripe coffee, thieves can mix and sell them at coffee processing plants.
It’s reported that apart from harvesting unripe coffee, some thieves cut down the trees and ran away with them into the bushes where they removed the cherries.
As a result, the residents appealed to Kampala Metropolitan Affairs State Minister Kabuye Kyofatogabye, born in the district, to pressure local police to intensify operations and patrols to fight coffee thieves.
Residents told the Minister that the thieves are threatening the government’s plan to boost coffee production in the district.
The Nakaseke District Police Commander was unavailable to comment but Michael Muhoozi, the Deputy Resident District Commissioner confirmed the surge in the cases.
Muhoozi said that as a result, they have advised people to form vigilante groups per ten households to guard and beef up Police efforts to fight the coffee thefts.
The State Minister for Kampala Metropolitan Affairs Kabuye Kyofatogabye advised the farmers not to get discouraged by petty thefts but to keep on growing coffee to benefit from the price boom.
Kyofatogabye promised to donate 50,000 coffee seedlings to residents in Nakaseke Central constituency to boost production.
He has so far distributed 5,000 coffee seedlings to farmers in Kiwoko and Kikamulo sub-county.
Recently Charles Peter Mayiga, the Katikkiro of Buganda Kingdom wrote to the Inspector General of Police informing him about the increasing cases of coffee thefts and asking him to fight the crimes.
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