By Prossy Nandudu
Coffee in Uganda is majorly grown for export. Because of this, there are stringent standards set up to regulate the coffee trade.
Edward Lutakome, an official from former Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) says farmers must know the different standards that can facilitate their coffee trade.
Standards have already been set by the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives.
Some of the guidelines were set in line with the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO), which UNBS is a member of.
To meet the standards, Lutakome advises farmers to pay attention to the following:
Harvesting
Farmers should pick only ripe cherries, which should be dried immediately after harvesting on clean mats, tarpaulins, racks or concrete floors. The result is Kiboko coffee.
If coffee is not dried immediately, it moulds hence affecting the much-needed aroma. Drying it on bare ground leads to contamination by other elements including soil.
Primary processing
The first step in value addition is hulling done with hullers. Lutakome explained that hulling should be done in a facility that has a concrete floor, plastered walls and leak-proof. The room should not have any insects and pests like rodents and should have a husk or dust collection chamber.
The facility should have a valid registration certificate as per the National Coffee Act No 17 of 2021 for hulling to take place. And the result of this process will be the Fair Average Quality Coffee (FAQ) or kase, Lutakome added.
The hulled coffee should be placed on a clean surface.
When it comes to moisture content after hulling, the recommended moisture content for dried coffee is 13.5%. Produce moisture gauges can be acquired from agri inputs stores at as low as sh20,000.
For farmers to achieve this target, they should dry coffee in any place that does not allow for contamination or buildup of moulds. Under normal sunshine, coffee takes 4-5 days to properly dry up.
-Drying, where coffee should be dried on the concrete floor, rack, tarpaulin or mats or on a raised floor. And ensure that the moisture content doesn’t go beyond 10.5%-13.5% for Kiboko and parchment.
The real implications of poor postharvest are seen at the grading stage when good-quality coffee is separated from poor-quality coffee.
According to Ssentamu, coffee is graded in different ways, however, the best grade is 18 and above.
“There are several ways through which coffee is graded,” he says.
He says that they use the colour and smell of the green coffee to give an indication of the botanical species, age of the crop, husbandry, handling and processing conditions.
“The sizes of coffee beans range in descending order from screen 18, screen 15 screen 12 screen 11.9 and B.H.P (Broken Half Pieces).
“The bigger the size, the higher the quality of the coffee. For example, if your coffee is screen 25, then that has a higher quality compared to screen 12,” he says.
He further explains that the bean size is a product of the botanical species, age of the crop and husbandry level. The bean size and weight also determine the out-turn at the processing level.
“If a farmer selected the right variety, nurtured it well and harvested only mature, ripe beans, then he is likely to get a higher grading, which also fetches more money,” Ssentamu says.
Secondary processing
Only dried FAQ coffee can go through secondary processing. This is best done near a coffee analysing and testing laboratory that can test the moisture content, measure screen size, cup taste, among others. Most reputable coffee exporting companies have this facility.
“Once you miss this stage which is compulsory then you will miss out on recommended grades for export,” Lutakome adds.
For storage, pallets on concrete floors are recommended. In addition, the floor should be free of dust and contamination.
After processing, the parchment or Kase shouldn’t be stored in the same place as the FAQ to avoid mixing up. Besides the storage space should be well ventilated, leak-proof, and vermin-free. And while in-store, temperatures should be maintained at below 30 degrees Celsius and humidity should be at 75%. There are thermometers that are purposely made to measure room temperature.
For packaging, jute or sisal bags are recommended because they are well-aerated. The bags should have labels, batch numbers and lot numbers for easy tracking.
To measure the content, one should use a calibrated weighing scale. While packaging, there is a need to wear appropriate protective gear. The packaged coffee should not exceed 60kg per bag and the lot should be limited to a maximum of 720 bags, enough for a 20ft container.
All these steps should be carried out under the supervision of the Uganda National Bureau of Standards and an official from the minister of agriculture.
