Coffee farmers earn sh910b
Jun 05, 2014
Coffee farmers earned sh910b from the crop in 2013, according to the agriculture ministry.
By Pascal Kwesiga
Coffee farmers earned sh910b from the crop in 2013, according to the agriculture ministry.
This means the farmers earned sh110b higher than the previous year. According to statistics from the ministry of agriculture, animal industry and fisheries, coffee farmers earned sh810b and sh950b from the country’s top foreign exchange earner in 2012 and 2011 respectively.
Coffee sub sector is the country’s leading foreign exchange earner followed by fisheries and tea.
A total of 2.7 million bags of coffee that were exported in 2012 fetched $393m while 3.58 million bags of crop sold on the international market in 2013 fetched $433m. The crop’s earning from the international market has been growing over years.
For instance in 2005, Uganda earned $172m from coffee exports, US$189m in 2006 and $265m in 2007. Export earnings from the crop grew further to $403m in 2008 before it fell in $280m in 2009. However it rose again to $283m in 2010.
Agriculture minister, Tress Bucyanayandi, in a statement read for him at the 3rd national forum on agriculture and food security at Sheraton hotel in Kampala, said that the three traditional crops need greater attention from government to spur economic development.
The government’s economic policy and research center that organized the forum unveiled findings of a recent survey indicating that coffee growing has had a tremendous impact in fighting poverty at house hold level in the northern region where it was introduced a few years ago.
The executive director of the policy research center, Sarah Ssewanyana noted that unlocking the growth potential of the coffee and tea sub sectors would require robust policy actions.
She observed that coffee growing which has been embraced by the population in north has the potential to redeem the poorest region in the country from the poverty.
The chairperson of the Parliamentary committee for agriculture Mathias Kasamba blamed the leaders of the agriculture ministry for stifling development by failing to come up with policies that can direct growth of key crops. Agriculturists and economists also called for the enactment of a tea policy and a tea regulatory authority.
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