Uganda’s coffee sector achieves record earnings in over 30 years 

UGANDA – Uganda has achieved a historic milestone in its coffee sector, earning US$1.144 billion in the financial year 2023/2024 from the export of 6.13 million bags of coffee.  

This represents a 6.33 percent increase in volume and a 35.29 percent rise in value compared to the previous fiscal year, according to the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA).  

In 2022/2023, Uganda exported 5.8 million bags of coffee valued at US$846 million. 

This remarkable achievement marks the highest earnings for Uganda’s coffee sector in the past 30 years.  

The UCDA credits this growth to its stringent regulatory measures and the enhanced quality of the region’s coffee. The agency has been pivotal in rolling out quality controls and providing extensive support to farmers. 

Established in 1991, the UCDA is a government agency responsible for regulating, enhancing, and promoting Uganda’s coffee across the entire value chain.  

The agency also champions research and development while supporting the marketing of Ugandan coffee to optimize foreign exchange earnings and improve payments to farmers.  

As part of its efforts, the UCDA launched the Coffee Roadmap, which aims to produce 20 million 60 kg bags of coffee by 2030. The roadmap, signed by President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni in 2017, targets annual foreign exchange earnings of US$1.5 billion from these 20 million bags. 

As Uganda prepares for the implementation of the European Union’s (EU) ban on the import of deforestation-related products, there are about 150 days left before the regulation takes effect.  

Gerald Kyalo, Director of UCDA, has urged coffee stakeholders to expedite the process to ensure compliance with the new regulations.  

The EU regulation requires tracing coffee from the garden to the market, necessitating detailed knowledge about coffee producers, their locations, and the types of coffee they grow. Exporters must file a due diligence certificate indicating their locations using GPS coordinates. 

Kyalo emphasized the need for a national Value Chain Actors (VCA) register as a precursor to creating a national traceability system aligned with the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) requirements.  

“This register will assign unique identifiers and geo-locations to all coffee farmers,” Kyalo explained. He noted that compliance with the EUDR could enhance Uganda’s market access, giving the country’s coffee producers a competitive edge in the EU market. 

Furthermore, Kyalo highlighted potential opportunities for international support and investment to help Ugandan coffee farmers comply with the EUDR.  

This support could come in the form of technical assistance, funding, or capacity-building initiatives, further boosting the sector’s growth and sustainability. 

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