EU officials in a group photo with UCDA officials
The Deputy Director General, International Partnerships at the European Commission, Myriam Ferran, says Uganda can continue to count on the European Union for support.
Ferran was speaking to journalists after a tour of the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) laboratory at the UMA Showgrounds in Lugogo, Kampala. Together with Ambassador Jan Sadek, Head of the European Union Delegation to Uganda, Caroline Adriaensen, Head of Cooperation and Sofian Dahmani from the EC International Partnerships Directorate, Ferran appreciated UCDA’s efforts in the coffee and cocoa sub-sectors.
The team was hosted by UCDA’s Managing Director, Dr. Emmanuel Iyamulemye and members of the Authority’s Quality and Regulatory Services Directorate who took them through a coffee cup tasting session to appreciate the uniqueness of Uganda’s coffee. Also on display was Ugandan cocoa and cocoa products.
Ferran noted that Uganda is competing “very well” with other producing countries given the fact that 65% of the country’s exports go to the EU. The projects support the value chain development from smallholder farmers to certification, among others areas.
“This is one additional interest we have in supporting the coffee and cocoa value chain in Uganda,” she said. “We do already support the chain financially. I am not in position to promise more support but you can count on us,” she added.
In the past five years, the European Union has supported the Ugandan coffee and cocoa value chains through two major projects implemented by UCDA, namely the EU-EAC Market Access Programme (MARKUP) worth EUR 3.638.000 and the Coffee and Cocoa Value Chain Development (CoCoDev) Project in Uganda worth EUR 8 million euros (UGX 32.8bn). The implementing period for MARKUP was 2018 to 2021 while that for CoCoDev is 2022 to 2026.
Ferran said UCDA should concentrate more in the refugee hosting communities so that “growing coffee could also help in increasing the livelihoods of refugees in the country in an inclusive manner.”
UCDA Managing Director, Dr. Emmanuel Iyamulemye, applauded the EU for the financial support, noting that the visit is consistent with the Authority’s desire to strengthen cooperation with the EU in order to support the expansion of the coffee sub-sector.
“We have been supporting the private sector to improve their coffee and cocoa standards. A successor project will continue to support the sub-sectors by focusing on commercialisation and providing grants to expand production. We will continue looking at the quality. The support is also going to improve the regulatory framework. That means we are for the first time going to have standards for cocoa,” Dr. Iyamulemye said shortly after hosting his guests.
The cocoa sub sector has not had a regulatory framework, but the EU support will enable the development of standards and access to more markets so that Uganda’s cocoa can continue fetching premium prices.
