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Uganda: Africa’s Rising Star

By: Alexis Rubinstein, Managing Editor - Coffee Network

Uganda: Africa’s Rising Star
 
Alexis Rubinstein
Managing Editor

CoffeeNetwork (New York) – What many don’t know is that Uganda is the birthplace of Robusta coffee. The country’s coffee production has jumped nearly 79% in the last ten years, from production of just 3.2 million bags in 2012 crop to 5.9 million bags for 2022. Now, the country’s production could reach as high as 8-9 million bags, Dr. Emmanuel Iyamulemye, Managing Director of the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) told CoffeeNetwork on the sidelines of the SCA conference.

The increase in production has been attributed to both new plantings and an increase in education with an emphasis on better agronomic practices.

And there is no sign of Uganda slowing down…

“We have a huge portion of land that is suitable for Arabica coffee,” Iyamulemye said. “The western region called the Western Rift can expand the coffee land significantly.” New plantings, which have been going on since 2014, will also continue to have an impact on yields.

A country that is halved by the equator, Uganda has two distinct seasons for their coffee crop, one above the equator, the other below.

“For this year, we have had very good weather, aside from one dry period around January,” Iyamulemye said, “and for this reason, we expect our production to only increase.”

Uganda has also been fortunate enough to avoid major impact from two of the biggest challenges that other major producers have been facing in today’s times: labor and fertilizer costs.

“We have had no labor issues even with COVID,” Iyamulemye says. “All of our crop is harvested manually but labor is very cheap and there are plenty of available workers.”

Additionally, with a lack of major commercial coffee farms, fertilizer is not often used in Uganda, sparing the smaller farmers from the rising fertilizer costs that have been noted since the start of the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

“COVID was also a blessing in disguise for us,” joked Iyamulemye. “The country was under lockdown and business stopped however agriculture had no restrictions, so many people turned to coffee farms for jobs.” Iyamulemye credits this to the highest ever exports during the time of COVID.

Although the county, like all others, did grapple with the rising freight costs and container shortages. Uganda is landlocked and therefore has no maritime port. All coffee is sent to Kenya to be shipped abroad. During the time of COVID, border restrictions made logistics difficult. Containers were hard to come by. Typical procedure was for containers to be filled at the port and the goods be delivered in Uganda, when the coffee exporters would be able to fill the empty containers with their coffee and send back to the port in Kenya. But the delays got so long and containers became so competitive that exporters would pay premiums to have empty containers delivered directly to them, Iyamulemye told CoffeeNetwork.

Uganda has one of the most liberalized coffee sectors in East Africa. Private traders purchase coffee from either producer organizations or directly from farmers for onward processing and export. The sector has attracted significant private sector investment and most international coffee trading companies are locally represented. The 2020 National Coffee Act mandates the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) to establish its first coffee auction, introducing a new marketing channel.

The largest importer of Ugandan coffee remains Italy, followed by Sudan and Germany.

Uganda’s coffee is also gaining in popularity. Celebrated for its high quality Robusta coffee, grown at elevations of up to 1,400 meters above sea level, Iyamulemye tells CoffeeNetwork that amid rising Arabica prices on the international market, many roasters are looking to Uganda for higher quality Robusta coffee to substitute in their blends.

Most of Uganda’s coffee is exported, although consumption is currently around 1 million bags and rising. “We are starting to disseminate more information about the health benefits of coffee,” he said. “We also have the highest population of younger people in the region and it’s the younger generation that enjoys coffee the most.”

Despite a rising coffee scene, the bulk of consumption is still in the form of instant coffee, most of which is imported.

Uganda has some small roasters, Iyamulemye estimates around 35 at the time, who roast coffee which is also consumed internally.

Alexis Rubinstein

  • Coffee

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