Uganda coffee exports to soar

Monday, 29th August, 2011

Uganda expects its coffee exports in 2011/12 (Oct-Sept) to edge up to about 3 million 60-kg bags from an estimated 2.8 million bags this year, helped by good rainfall, a source at the industry regulator said on Monday.

"We think we'll export about 3 million," a source at the Uganda Coffee Development Authority told Reuters.

"We have had an extended period of copious rains which are good for coffee flowering and bean formation.

Central and eastern Uganda which are going into season later year will certainly have a bumper crop," the source said.

Central and eastern Uganda account for 55 percent of all exports from the country, one of Africa's leading exporters of the beans. Industry experts called the forecast "realistic".

"We've certainly had heavy rains which are needed in the early stages of a new season. Most important also is that we're now fully recovered from the leaf rust disease which affected yields last year," said David Muwonge, marketing and production manager at National Union of Coffee Agribusinesses and Farm Enterprises (NUCAFE).

Reuters