Coffee Break Uganda coffee exports rise as eyes turn to the Chinese market
Cups of steaming and aromatic locally produced coffee were among the most popular beverages served to delegates from across the globe at the 2019 Africa-china Poverty Reduction and Development Conference held in Uganda in November last year.
The conference, attended by more than 20 Chinese delegates and hundreds from other countries, served coffee on more than 10 occasions in just two days.
The coffee was widely praised for its memorable taste, with many delegates interested in marketing it back in their own countries. Uganda’s Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries Vincent
Ssempijja said at the conference, “We have given [samples of] coffee to the delegates not only for their drinking pleasure, but also as a marketing strategy of Ugandan coffee. We still need more markets for our coffee in their countries.”
Ssempijja said his country’s coffee exports have increased greatly in the past few years because of an increase in production, improvement in quality and aggressive marketing.
Leading cash crop
Coffee has been Uganda’s leading cash crop since the 1960s. The country is Africa’s largest coffee exporter, followed by Ethiopia and
Côte d’ivoire, according to the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA), which said more than 600,000 households depend on coffee production in the country.
The UCDA said in the past 20 years, about 80 percent of Uganda’s coffee was destined for the European Union and 20 percent was exported to Sudan; but since about 5 years ago, more coffee has found its way to Asian countries, including China.
On May 25, the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries of Uganda released a report indicating that coffee exports of the countryfor the last four financial years has increased by 17 percent.
The report, entitled Agriculture Sector
Implementation Status of the NRM Manifesto 2016-21 Commitments, indicated that coffee exports increased from 3.56 million bags in financial year 2015/16 to 4.17 million bags in 2018/19, a 17-percent growth.
Government has also earned more revenue from the increase in exports. The value of the coffee exported increased by 18 percent. It rose to $416.2 million in the financial year 2018/19 from $351.53 million in 2015/16.
The report explained that the total production of the crop in the last four years also increased by 56 percent to 6.95 million bags in the financial year 2018/19, from 4.46 million bags in 2015/16.
Minister of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives Amelia Kyambadde told Chinafrica, “The increase in coffee production and exports has come about due to the poverty alleviation program implemented by the National Agricultural Advisory Service (NAADS). It is proving to be a successful venture.”
NAADS Field Officer Simon Kaye said in the past five years, they distributed more than 600 million coffee seedlings to farmers across the country.
“Now that some of them have started reaping, the amount of coffee being taken to processing factories has shot up,” said Kaye.
According to the UCDA spokesperson Laura Walusimbi, with increase in coffee production, it became necessary to look for new markets and Asia was one of the continents of interest.
In addition, the government, through the UCDA, has extensively educated farmers about good agricultural, harvest and post-harvest practices. This resulted in production of better-quality coffee and increased production as farms yield more. It also accelerates social and economic transformation of the lower middle-income groups.
Asian markets
A few years ago, Uganda began to export coffee to China, but it faced challenges because of the country’s well established tea drinking culture.
On September 21 last year, officials from China’s Yunnan Coffee Exchange (YCE) completed a seven-day fact finding mission on how they can partner with the UCDA to promote Uganda’s coffee in the Chinese market.
Based in Yunnan Province, southwest China, the YCE is a state-owned enterprise with major objective of promoting the development of China’s coffee industry. It deals with storage, auctioning and electronic trading of coffee.
Discussions on coffee-related issues were held between Ugandan Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda, and Cao Ronggen, who led the Chinese YCE delegation.
“Coffee growing in Uganda is very unique considering its favorable environment. It is rare to find a similar producing region like Uganda in the rest of the world,” said Cao. If the quality and quantity improves, Ugandan coffee will be traded on our market.”
Walusimbi said in May 2020, Uganda exported 3,800 60-kg bags of coffee to China. She said the UCDA set up a coffee promotion office at the Ugandan Consulate General in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province in south China, which, along with YCE initiatives, is expected to increase exports to China. The UCDA also regularly supports local exporters to participate in exhibitions in China where they are able to meet with potential buyers and market Uganda coffee.
Local farmers benefit
“[Farming] families with coffee plantations are living fairly comfortable lives because they periodically earn money from their coffee,” said Mutwalubi Kasabuli, Coffee Development Officer in the east Uganda district of Iganga. Local farmers Ambrose Musaki said he started growing coffee four years ago after being given free seedlings by the government.
“Before I started growing coffee, life was not easy. I did not have money to pay school fees for my children. I also struggled to get money for food and basic needs. But now I earn enough money from coffee to solve all my problems,” said Musaki.
The benefits have also spilled over to coffee dealers. Rogers Amuge goes from village to village in east Uganda where he buys coffee from farmers and transports it to factories for processing, making a handsome profit along the way.
“I enjoy my work. I buy a kilogram of raw coffee at 1,500 shillings ($14) from farmers and sell it at 1,900 shillings (about $18) to factories, from where it is prepared for export,” said Amuge.
Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni has consistently advised Ugandans to grow coffee as one of the ways of fighting poverty.
“I advise each family to at least grow one acre of coffee as one of the ways of eliminating poverty at household level,” said the president at Independence Day celebrations on October 9 last year. CA