The prices of coffee have registered big decreases in the Ibanda district over the past 10 days, with dealers projecting the downward trend to continue.
Arabica coffee recorded the biggest drop, shedding about sh2,000 to trade at sh7,000 per kilogramme in Ibanda town and Rushango town council, Ibanda North County compared to over sh9,000.
Arabica coffee hit a record high of sh12,000 last season, and farmers were optimistic that the upward trajectory would continue this harvest season.
Robusta coffee is at sh5,300 a kilogramme, down from sh6,500 a kilogramme 10 days ago and last season’s high of sh7,000.
Tanazio Monday, a model farmer in Rushango town council, said this was hurting the coffee growers more “because we invested a lot of money in the crop only to earn peanuts”.
Deogratias Tihwayo, a coffee buyer in Ibanda town, attributed the drop in the prices to “poor quality of the coffee beans” coming onto the market.
He said the prices might take a long to recover.
The Uganda Coffee Development Authority quoted the farm-gate price range for robusta coffee at sh6,200-6,800 per kilogramme in its daily market report for Monday, while ‘clean’ Arabica coffee was at sh8,000 to 9,000.
UCDA quoted a kilogramme of Arabica parchment at between sh9,000 and sh10,000.
