Emmy Olaki
29 December 2003
Kampala — THE East African fine coffees association (EAFCA), has launched a campaign aimed at promoting the local consumption and marketability of coffee.
The promotion which was kicked off last week at Shoprite in Kampala, is aimed at creating awareness among local consumers about the different blends of coffee from Uganda and EAFCA member countries.
"The local consumption in almost each of the EAFCA member countries is about 1% of production. So if we aggressively promote these coffees, consumers will be more aware of (coffee's) unique attributes and will demand high quality (coffee) that Uganda is known for," said Waggwa Nsibirwa, acting EAFCA executive director during the launch of the campaign.
"We believe that if we market our superior coffees and unique blends by highlighting their source and origin, the world market will be aware of the unique qualities of our brands and demand will grow substantially," Nsibirwa said.
Producers of coffee, in the developing world take about $5b of proceeds from coffee, yet the non-producing countries earn as much as $75b from selling processed (value added) coffee.
"This campaign will have a spiral effect right to the farmer. Trace ability of coffee to the farmer will create an opportunity to reward the farmer for quality, which will translate to better prices to farmers," said Jack Sabiti, chairman of the union of coffee agribusiness and farm enterprises.
Henry Ngabirano, the managing director Uganda coffee development authority said for all the years Uganda has grown coffee, the last two years have been the best.
"We have special features that can never be found any where else in the world, and these can help us in branding our coffees. Branding is the crucial issue now," he said.
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