Uganda Coffee Exports Show Early Signs of Recovery

Coffee - Uganda’s lead export continues to show signs of recovery as trends for both value and volumes improve.

The latest report from Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) for the month ending March indicates Uganda exported a total of 187,592 bags of coffee worth $30.2 million (Shs75.5b).

Cumulative coffee exports for the first six months of 2011/12 totaled to 1.34 million bags valued at $196.44 million compared to 1.32 million bags valued at $176.1 million around the same time (October – March 2010/11). “This represented a rise of 1.39 per cent and 11.54 per cent in volume and value respectively,” the report reads in part.

Industry experts say the improved performance once translated into better prices at farm-gate, is likely to improve farmers’ income as well as growing export volumes.
Grade performance for total coffee exported, stood at 104,240 bags of Robusta and 83,352 bags Arabica.

Uganda is the third coffee producing country in Africa after Ethiopia and Ivory Coast respectively; while globally, the country is ranked at 10th. Coffee export grades according to the report realised price drops during the period ended March 2012.


For instance Robusta exports accounted for 55.6 per cent of total exports during the month, with an average price of $1.96 per kilogramme up from $2 in March 2011.

The report indicates that Arabica coffee accounted for 44.4 per cent of total exports with a weighted average price of $ 3.59 per kilogramme which was lower than $4.36 realised in March 2011.

By Dorothy Nakaweesi: The Monitor Newspaper , 19-April-2012