Emojong Osere
23 June 2009
Kampala — Uganda coffee exports registered a dismal 0.4 percentage increase as at the end of 2008/ 09 compared to the previous fiscal year's growth trajectory.
The country exported 2,078,754 60-kilogram bags of coffee compared to 2007/08's 2,071,096 (0.4% increase) with Robusta coffee leading the pack with 4,743,560 bags exported compared to Arabica's 1,186,640 in the last three years.
The 2008/ 09 period registered a contraction in the cash crop's exports as 2006/ 07 financial year saw coffee exports increase by a standing 16.3 percent- beaming a 15.9 percentage drop in growth between 2006/ 07 and 2008/ 09.
The export tendency was generally unstable as the country recorded a zigzagged graph since exports for Robusta coffee increased from 1,365,844 in 2006/ 07 to 1,737,999 in 2007/ 08 (27.2% increase) before dropping to 1,639,717 (6% decrease) in 2008/ 09 financial year.
Robusta exports equally registered a shaky trend as exports declined between 2006/ 07 and 2007/ 08 from 414,506 to a low 333,097 before hiking to 439,037 60-kilogram bags.
A recent small holder farmer's conference organised by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and Strengthening Support Capacity for Enhanced Market Access and Knowledge (SCAPEMA) held in Kampala, attributed unstable coffee trends to government's failure to control middlemen exploiting farmers by buying the product at low prices before re-selling it to unlicenced traders at exorbitantly high prices.
The Executive Director, National Union of Coffee Agribusiness and Farm Enterprises (NUCAFE), Joseph Nkadu, told Daily Monitor Ugandan coffee trade would continuously lose in exports as long as "... government does not consider adding value to the product for both local consumption and export, rein on unscrupulous businessmen cheating farmers and increase funding for the crop's, its product's and market research."
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