David Muwanga
15 May 2008
Kampala — UGANDA earned $265m (about sh440b) in 2007 from coffee exports, making it the leading foreign exchange earner. A report by the Uganda Export Promotion Board, said the revenue from coffee had risen since 2001 when $97m was earned.
The report said the coffee wilt disease had, however, affected production in 21 districts. It said 122,400 out of the 240,000 hectares of the coffee crop in these districts had been infected.
The report also blamed the continued export of green beans for depriving the country of great revenues from processed coffee.
"A plastic container with a capacity of 100gms of blended coffee, both Robusta and Arabica originating from Uganda but processed abroad, costs $14.
"The Ugandan exporter on the other hand fetches only $1.3 by exporting green beans," the report bemoaned.
It indicated that coffee revenue was followed by fish and fish products that fetched $124m in 2007.
The report noted that although the revenue from the fish sector had grown, over-exploitation of fish especially the Nile perch, was a challenge.
"The Nile perch is considered to be nearing maximum sustainable yield, implying a possible collapse of stock levels and loss of supplies for export.
"The sector operates at a disadvantage with respect to export distribution cost due to high freight charges compared to Kenya and Tanzania. There is also lack of effective management of resources."
"Roads to and from landing sites are in a sorry state and fishing equipment is largely composed of small canoes that affect quality and level of fish catch."
Fish was followed by tobacco at $66m, while export revenues from tea remained at an average of $30m.
The report named cotton as the worst performing product in the traditional exports crops with earnings dropping to $19m in 2007.
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