To improve planning, the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) plans to register all coffee farmers in the country.
According to Emmanuel Iyamulemye Niyibigira, the UCDA executive director, documenting the number of coffee growers in the country will strengthen the authority’s relationship with farmers.
The registration exercise, he said, aims to involve all stakeholders supposed to push government’s National Coffee Strategy. Under the strategy, government aims to push coffee production from the 2015 annual four million bags to 20 million bags by 2020.
“The stakeholders we are serving are the farmers. We want to know their biodata, location, farming practices and how many acres are under coffee,” Iyamulemye told journalists at the Uganda Media Centre on January 11.
He said the registration will also help the authority ascertain what variety of coffee is grown in a particular area and how old the trees are. He noted that old coffee trees above the 10-year lifespan constitute 70 per cent of all coffee grown. He added that the registration will identify farmers with such trees and replace them with stronger varieties.
Iyamulemye observed that the acquired data from the exercise would help experts find a solution to the highly-challenging effects of climate change. Due to the rampant drought, coffee trees have failed to flower and bear berries, which has affected production and farmers’ incomes.
Once registered, coffee farmers will get part of government’s 300 million seedlings as part of its drive to push coffee production to 20 million bags by 2020. The registration exercise, piloted in Mukono, is set to be rolled out countrywide by the end of this month.
Statistics from UCDA show an increase in coffee exports. The country’s exports jumped to 617,171 bags between October and November 2015, from 472,199 bags in 2014 during the same months.
The increased numbers were attributed to the massive replanting of 57.4 million seedlings in 2013/14, which have started yielding. Uganda tops Africa’s list of coffee exports and its unique Robusta coffee is a widely-sought-after variety on the international market.
As UCDA celebrates 25 years of existence, its team led by Iyamulemye expressed commitment to rejuvenate its national drive for more coffee consumption and improved quality beans.
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