The UCDA is 25 years old. How satisfied are you with its work promoting the Uganda coffee?

The last 25 years have been very eventful for the coffee industry in Uganda. UCDA was established in 1991 as part of IMF Social Adjustment programme (SAPs) that emphasized privatization, liberalisation and abolition of monopoly of marketing boards. UCDA was established to oversee and promote the entire coffee industry through research, production and marketing and quality control. The reforms in coffee sector was not without its challenges. In the 1990s we had the coffee wilt disease, which wiped out nearly half the crop and exports fell, but the government launched an ambitious research programme which developed seven coffee wilt diseases resistant lines. The good news is that coffee exports are on the rise. Last year coffee export rose from 3.5 million-60kg bags to 4.6 million-60 kg bags. In April 2017, the government launched the Coffee Roadmap, an ambitious programme that aims to produce 20 million bags of coffee by 2025. So we have much to celebrate over these last 25 years, and also much to look ahead to. We trust that the next 25 years will be cause for even greater celebration as the coffee industry contributes greater benefits to the Ugandan economy and its people.

Just how important is coffee for the development of Uganda?

Coffee is a national strategic commodity under the National Development Plan, and it cuts across several ministries: the Ministry of Trade to address tariffs and promotion; the Ministry of Agriculture for production, research and quality control; the Ministry of Water to deal with irrigation issues; and the Ministry of Finance for balance of payments as its foreign exchange earner. We are talking about a commodity that is providing $550 million annually and is projected to bring in $2 billion. Coffee is the number one export for the country in terms of visible trade. And coffee is grown in 104 out of 121 districts, hence coffee is grown in 85% of the country. It touches on many people’s livelihoods. The value chain offers many opportunities for participating actors, from the farmers who plant the crop, to the workers at the processing factories, the transporters, the exporters…and these revenues translate into money for food, education, health, etc.  In addition, coffee accounts for 7.6% of national GDP. For the last 25 years, coffee has been contributing between 20 and 30% of export revenues, so this shows how important it is for the country.

How is the government planning to grow the sector?

In October 2014, HE President of the Republic of Uganda issued a directive to accelerate coffee production from 3 million 60-kg bags to 20 million bags by 2020. In December 2015, UCDA in collaboration with the Prime Minister Delivery Unity convened a stakeholders’ meeting in which an agenda for a Coffee Lab was agreed upon. The stakeholders also agreed on potential strategies for Government action in FY 2016/2017 pending design of a Coffee 2020 Roadmap. In March 2017, a Coffee Lab was held using a Rapid Delivery Lab methodology which culminated into a Coffee Roadmap – a transformative agenda for the Coffee Subsector. The coffee roadmap is based on three pillars of Demand and Value Addition, Production and Enablers. Demand and Value Addition involves building structured demand through direct deals with other countries as we seek to expand our markets. The EU is our number one importer, and the UK is a top destination for Ugandan coffee, and we want to increase our presence there, but we also want to enter new markets like China, the Maghreb and the Middle East. We are doing a lot of promotional work and providing a platform to help private exporters. Coffee requires specialized training and facilities, and we provide that. We are also looking at other ways of marketing the coffee, such as direct marketing and optioning, as a way to introduce greater competitiveness in the industry and improve value by 15%. The first pillar also focuses on Branding Uganda coffee to drive its demand and improve value, as well as supporting local coffee businesses for value addition.

What about the other pillars of the programme?

The second pillar focuses on increasing production. It involves strengthening farmer organizations and cooperatives and expanding the area under coffee by supporting joint ventures and promoting concessions for coffee production. The third pillar seeks to creating enabling environment to increase production through improved quality of planting materials and inputs as well as increasing financing to farmer organizations, coffee businesses and investors. We are supporting research into improved coffee varieties and the government is provide free seedlings to farmers to expand coffee acreage. We are organising farmers into cooperatives to improve commercialisation, collective marketing, processing, financial resources and extension services, and input provision. We expect that improved quality will lead to more attractive prices for the farmers. We have signed MoU with Uganda Cooperative Alliance, a non-profit working to help in organising farmers into efficient business units. We are also mobilizing farmers who were not traditionally coffee growers so that they will switch over to this crop. We aim to have 900 million seedlings planted in three years. And we are also looking at the legal environment. We want a regulated system that will help improve the quality of the seed, of the harvested coffee, and of the processed coffee, so our laws need to be revised to encompass all this. We are additionally looking at highly productive coffee varieties, and supporting the work of the National Coffee Research Institute (NaCORI), which is working on developing new varieties of coffee; so far 10 varieties have been developed which are resistant to coffee wilt disease and highly productive. UCDA has supported the construction of a laboratory at NaCORI to conduct research to improve the crop. The Agriculture Ministry has embarked on the regulation of quality inputs like fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides, which are mostly imported. We want to make sure they are genuine products, so the farmers are not harmed by counterfeiting.

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How will this programme be financed?

The government has established a coffee finance programme with the Central Bank and Treasury to provide financing to farmer organisations, smallholders, coffee businesses and investors. We are also looking at equity from other sources, and inviting friends of Uganda, including the UK to support the development of the country by supporting one of its key commodities, coffee. This can be done by investing in areas that will bridge gaps in infrastructure, energy, or transportation networks. Agro insurance is also a key aspect of coffee financing. Uganda and UK enjoy historical ties and look forward to continued trade relations and financing the coffee sub sector.

How satisfied are you with the way Ugandan coffee is being branded internationally today?

There is still a long way to go to make Uganda coffee visible on the global market. First of all, most of our coffee, despite being premium quality, is being used for blending other coffees. Uganda is a birth place of Robusta coffee and is blessed to have two varieties, Robusta and Arabica. , and we are working to brand ourselves better, so people will look at Ugandan coffee, recognize it as a premium quality product and want to enjoy the original taste.

How has the UK been involved in the sector, and what role do you want it to play in future?

The UK has played a leading role in revamping the coffee sector through the Farming system support programme which was funded by EEC in 1990s. The project helped develop more resistant varieties and also expand production. The UK has also been supportive through non-profit organisations, and by providing a niche market for Ugandan coffee. Brands such as Good African Coffee and Sipi coffee, etc are sold in UK supermarkets. And of course our first commercialization of coffee was thanks to the UK, as during colonial times Britain promoted coffee as a commercial crop. We want to see more UK investment in the coffee sector so we can improve the value and the branding. We invite the UK to come and taste Uganda’s original coffee, and invest in the sector in order to help improve the future of this nation. This will create greater opportunities in rural areas with a value-for-money product that will improve people’s lives.