By Carol Kasujja Adii
The Government has called upon all coffee farmers to participate in the ongoing nationwide coffee value chain actors’ registration program to access international markets.
On December 5, 2022, the European Parliament approved the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) aimed at ensuring that supply chains remain free from products contributing to deforestation and forest degradation.
The regulation targeted seven commodities and their derived products, namely cattle, cocoa, coffee, oil palm, soya, wood, and rubber whether imported or produced within the EU.
These commodities will be prohibited from entering the EU market if they are produced on land cleared of forest for agricultural purposes after December 30th, 2020.
Addressing journalists today (October 01) at the Uganda media center, Frank Tumwebaze, the Agriculture minister, advised coffee farmers to comply with the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) to maintain access to global markets.
“EU represents a primary export market for Ugandan coffee, with over 60% exported to the EU market including Italy, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Portugal, Russia, Switzerland, Sweden and the Netherlands, the Ministry, UCDA, have prioritized registration of coffee value chain actors so as to enable traceability of our coffee and prove that our source farms have not contributed to deforestation,” Tumwebaze said.
Tumwebaze noted that registering is also important to prove that Ugandan coffee farming is environmentally friendly and sustainable.
The Agriculture minister highlighted that when farmers are profiled or registered, extension outreaches and information dissemination becomes easy.
“Registration of coffee value chain actors is an essential precursor to the creation of a National Traceability System. Such measures are vital for supporting our coffee farmers, enhancing sustainability, improving market access, and ensuring compliance with both local legislation and international regulations,” Tumwebaze, noted.
Tumwebaze explained that different markets have different requirements for coffee imports. For example, imports into China require registration with the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China (GACC), Sudan being a main consumer in Africa requires ISO certification and submission of annual test results for both physical and biochemical coffee parameters to Sudanese Standards and Metrology Organisation (SSMO) and the European Union requires compliance with the EUDR.
The EUDR requires that all products exported or imported to the EU market are;
1). Accompanied by a due diligence statement; containing geolocation data adhering to traceability standards that enable buyers to trace each batch of coffee back to its designated land plot.
2) Deforestation-free; the production of coffee was done on land that was not subject to deforestation or forest degradation after 30th December 2020.
3) Produced in accordance with the relevant legislation of Uganda;
In his speech, Dr Gerald Kyalo, the director development services, said that the government has so far allocated Sh13 billion towards the registration exercise, while development partners have contributed sh16b.
Registration process
A Geospatial Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) System and Farmer Registration Application has been developed. This innovative system will capture geolocation data for all production plots where coffee or related products are cultivated.
“The enumerators will record the farmers’s name, farm name and location, type of coffee grown/produced. In addition, enumerators will map farms/gardens by recording their GPS coordinates. UCDA will store and manage the data collected in partnership with NITA(U) and will ensure compliance with the Data Protection Act during the collection, storage and management,” Eunice Kabibi, the director legal services at the UCDA, said.
Coffee in Uganda
Coffee is an important crop nationally and globally. Coffee’s global annual value is $465 billion and ranks as the world’s second-largest revenue earner after oil.
Uganda is the 7th largest coffee producer in the world and the second largest producer in Africa. More than 9 million people in Uganda are estimated to derive their livelihood from coffee-related activities along the value chain.
Coffee is one of Uganda’s main foreign exchange earners contributing 11-22% of commodity exports in the last 11 years i.e. averaging 14% over the period.
Coffee is grown on an estimated 353,907 hectares of land by about 1.8 million smallholder farmers and 90% of these smallholder farmers own gardens ranging between 0.5 and 2.5 hectares in size.
Coffee exports for twelve months (Financial year 2023/24) totaled 6.13 million bags worth US$ 1.14 billion compared to 5.76 million bags worth US$ 846.02 million in the previous year (Financial year 2022/23). This represents an increase of 6.33% and 35.29% in quantity and value respectively.
