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UgandaCoffee Federation
Generally, there have been reports of seedlings distributedunder
OWC drying up but I amhappy the Luweero ones are doingwell.
H.E. PRESIDENTYOWERI K. MUSEVENI
most favorable.
Because you
already have the
culture, support
existingproducers
tomaximize yields.
2. Suitable coffee
varieties.
Uganda
has thebest genetic
diversity a very big
incentive for us to
tap into this and have
varieties that arepest
andharshweather
resistant.
3. Irrigationandbest
agriculturepractices.
Wemust invest inmicro-
irrigation schemes to
salvageproduction.When
this is done alongside
other best practices then
you are sure about quality
and resultant benefits.
4. Producer priceparity.
Farmers in theother
countries get asmuch
as 80%of the FOBprice.
InKenyahere, farmers
get 52%. Oncewe have
organizedourselves even
our farmers canget this
price.
However, after all the above
is done, I wish topoint out
somebarriers that weneed
to take note of whichmay be
evenbeyond the control of an
individual farmer but to other
players.
1. In-puts:
There is flooding
of themarket with fake
or substandard in-puts.
Farmers go to themarket,
spend their hard earned
incomes only to return
homewith fakeAgro-
Inputs. Thismatter should
be arrestedby standard
bodies and relevant
government bodies.
2. Better training for
extension.
3. Affordable funding:
This is abig challenge to
local playerswhere the
current cost of credit is
tooexpensive. Relevant
bodiesmust work together
to empower our players
with at least a singledigit
cost of credit topromote
competivenesswith
others.
4. Maximisingeconomies
of scale:
This is a
controversial suggestion,
but I support farmers
aggregating their produce
so that wecanaddress
thequality issues at the
base. Examples of farmer
groupswhoare involved
indoing this have already
proven that withorganized
farmer groups their coffee
attracts higher prices.
5. Wemust support value
addition.
Let us protect
andpromote local
roasterswho are facing
competition from foreign
coffees that attract less
taxeswhile the local ones
are suffering ahigh tax-
burdenas foreignbrands
are only paying import tax.
In conclusion, I haveno
doubt that our exporters can
ably handle theproduction
surgeof 20millionbags as
envisagedby government.
Otherwise, let me say toall
and sundry that Practical
agriculturecan sustain
anyone andCoffee is a life
sustainability crop.
Thisarticle is anexcerpt
fromMr. Karuhanga’s
speechduring theCoffee
Day.
