UGANDA
Uganda’s coffee production will increase, even if only modestly, in the coming months as additional maturing plantations come online, according to a report by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Foreign Agriculture Service and the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA)’s annual report for 2017.
USDA’s report predicts a “modest increase in Uganda’s coffee production in the marketing year 2017/2018 due to harvests from new maturing plantations.” Coffee exports are expected to remain flat during the period, however, “leading to a modest increase in ending stocks.”
UCDA continues to implement a Ugandan government-sponsored program to increase yields through increased adoption of improved varieties and expansion of planted area, the report stated.
Since 2012, UCDA has worked with farmers and farmers’ organizations to improve not only the acreage under coffee but also the quality of the crop produced. This is accomplished with the introduction and distribution of better yielding varieties, improving the farm input supply chain and via government-sponsored coffee farming extension services.
UCDA programs increased production and exports, according to the 2017 annual report that excludes December.
Uganda’s November coffee exports increased to 443,100 60-kg bags valued at $49.4 million. The exports consisted of 310,759 bags of robusta coffee valued at $33.1 million and 132,341 bags of arabica coffee valued at $16.3 million.
Uganda’s 12-month coffee exports (Dec. 2016-Nov. 2017) rose to 4.8 million bags valued at $563 million, up from the 3.5 million bags worth $353 million during the same period last year.
- Shem Oirere