By Umar Kashaka
Agriculture minister Frank Tumwebaze has urged coffee farmers in Uganda to gear up for the forthcoming national registration to keep accessing their biggest European Union (EU) market.
On Friday, September 6, the minister took to X, formerly Twitter, to say every export market has got its dictates.
“Coffee, milk, beef, etc. require different standards and so it’s important to prepare and comply if we are to sell,” he told the farmers.
As of June 2024, Italy remained the largest market for Uganda’s coffee exports, accounting for 41.96% of the total market share, according to the report on the performance of Uganda’s economy for July 2024.
Other significant markets for Uganda’s coffee exports included Germany and Spain, accounting for 10.55% and 5.40% of the total exports, respectively.
Tumwebaze hailed the Katikkiro (premier) of Buganda Kingdom, Charles Peter Mayiga, for his message on coffee farmer identification/registration.
While meeting coffee stakeholders led by the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) on September 6, 2024, Mayiga said it is their duty to sensitise farmers that registration is for their good.
“Registration will ensure that our coffee is not barred from the EU market. It is not about coffee alone; there are other products affected by the EUDR law like wood, cattle, soy and palm oil,” he said.
The meeting took place at his office in Bulange-Mengo, the kingdom’s administrative seat.
UCDA is set to start registering all coffee value chain actors across the country.
UCDA director of development services Dr Gerald Kyalo said the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) requires evidence of no deforestation, which necessitates tracing coffee back to the farmer.
“The law (EUDR) requires that we trace each kilogramme of coffee exported to the EU back to the producer,” he told the Katikkiro.
The EUDR requires large companies trading in the commodities of cattle, cocoa, coffee, oil palm, rubber, soy and wood, as well as products derived from those commodities to prove that these goods/products do not originate from recently deforested areas or contribute to forest degradation.
LEAD PHOTO CAPTION: Agriculture minister Frank Tumwebaze has urged coffee farmers in Uganda to gear up registration. File photo
