By John Masaba
The Government has reported an increase in coffee exports, projecting promising times for coffee farmers and the country’s bid to increase foreign exchange through her exports.
Coffee exports in July 2023 amounted to 645,832 60-kilo bags, worth $104.99m (about shillings 391 billion), according to figures from the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA).
This comprised 586,871 bags of Robusta valued at $92.5m (about shillings 344 billion) and 58,961 of Arabica valued at $12.40m (about shillings 46.2 billion).
This was an increase of 12.16% and 25.85% in quantity and value respectively compared to the same month last year.
By type, Robusta coffee increased by 11.40% and 29.79% in quantity and value respectively, while Arabica exports increased by 20.33% and 2.59% in quantity and value respectively when compared to last year’s statistics.
Calendar year rise
Coffee exports in a 12-months period (August 2022-July 2023) totalled 5.83 million bags worth $867.50m compared to 6.13 million bags worth $862.28m the previous year (August 2021-July 2022).
“This represents a decrease of 5% in quantity and 0.6% increase in value. The decrease was pegged on a drought and increasing incidence of pests and diseases in Robusta growing areas,” UCDA said in a statement on Tuesday.
“The monthly coffee exports performance was higher than the previous year which was seen in Robusta exports and was
partly on account of a good crop harvest in the southwestern region and the prevailing good prices on the global scene which prompted exporters to release their stocks,” the statement reads.
For many years, coffee was Uganda’s biggest export earner until 2018 when it was overtaken by gold.
Data from the Bank of Uganda indicates that in March alone, the country exported gold worth $268m (about shillings 999 billion) while in April, gold exports stood at $200m (about shillings 745 billion).
