By Umar Kashaka
Uganda earned $883.24m (about sh3.3 trillion) from coffee exports in the last 12 months, up from $652.50 (sh2.4 trillion) in the previous coffee year, a report by the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) has said.
“This represents a decrease of 11% in quantity but an increase of 35% in value,” the report that was released on Wednesday said.
It also said 75% of the total volume was exported by 10 exporters, out of 47 companies which performed during the month, compared to 79% in September 2022.
Sustainable Arabica Rwenzori A fetched the highest price at $6.67 per kilo.
It also said a total of 457,244 60-kilo bags of coffee valued at $67.10m were exported in October 2022 at an average weighted price of $2.45/kilo, 9 cents higher than $ 2.36/kilo in September 2022 and US cents 36 higher than $2.10/kilo in October 2021.
“This was a decrease of 6% in quantity but an increase of 10% in value compared to the same month last year. Farm-gate prices for Robusta Kiboko averaged sh2,600 per kilo; FAQ sh6,550 per kilo, Arabica parchment sh10,500 per kilo and Drugar sh9,500 per kilo,” said the report.
By comparing the quantity of coffee exported by type in the same month of the last coffee year (October 2021), Robusta decreased by 6.47% in quantity but increased by 7.51% in value, while Arabica exports slightly decreased by 0.25% in quantity but increased by 19.75% in value.
The UCDA noted that this decrease in exports was mainly attributed to lower yields this year that were characterised by drought in most regions.
“This led to a shorter main harvest season in central and eastern regions and also reduced harvests from greater Masaka and south-western regions,” it explained.
Uganda is the leading coffee exporting country in Africa after Ethiopia and it is well known for its production of Robusta coffee taking at least 80% of the entire production and 20% of Arabica coffee.
