Kampala — A TOTAL of 371,440 60kg bags of coffee were exported in October and November, earning the country $38.65m (about sh77b), the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) said in a report.

UCDA explained that the sh77b was earned from the October/November coffee year.

It said the 172,576 60-kg bags of coffee worth $17.65m were shipped in October to various destinations.

"Compared to the same month last year, when a total of 155,571 bags were recorded, volume and value went up by 10.9% and 32.1% respectively," the report said.

UCDA attributed the improved volumes to increased production of Robusta that went up by 15%, while Arabica quantities dropped by 0.4%.

"This phenomenon is explained by variations in season cycle where the harvesting is delayed in Arabica areas due to heavy rains," the report explained.

The report said coffee shipment from Uganda in the 10 months of the calendar year from January to October 2007, amounted to 2.2 m bags valued at $216.2m, up from 1.67m worth $145.1m the previous year.

In the last 12 months from November 2006 to October 2007, shipment totalled 2.72m bags worth $261.3m, up from 2.04m bags worth $14.7m realised a year ago, UCDA said.

It said November exports totalled 198,864 60kg bags worth $21m, a decrease in volume and value of 20.7% and 8.5%, respectively compared with the performance of November last year.

The report, however, noted that exports in the 12 months from December to November 2006/07 went up by 26.8% in volume from 2,104,874 bags to 2,669,387 bags.

In the 11 months from January to November 2007, coffee shipment totalled 2,420,678 bags, representing a 25.8% increase compared to 1,924,530 bags recorded in a similar period last year.