Arabica coffee farmers in Bugisu sub-region are laughing all the way to the bank following the record rise in farm gate prices from sh4,000-sh5000 to sh8,000 per kilo of dry berries.

“Coffee prices have been surprisingly good. Even the yields were not that bad because of the heavy rains that we received at the beginning of the year,” Mary Musoba, a farmer in Khabutola sub-county, Manafwa district, said.

The dealers in Mbale town are buying a kilo from the middlemen at sh8500-9,200.

This has caused an increase in cases of theft in plantations at night.

“I literally share my coffee with thieves. When I pick the coffee in the morning, thieves, especially young men in the village, go to my plantation as soon as l leave and continue from where I left. I have given up,” Musoba said.

Unlike the farmers, the thieves pick both the ripe and raw (green) cherries, compromising the quality of the end product.

Coffee exporters have over the years complained about the bad quality of Ugandan coffee, to the extent that the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) started a campaign to teach farmers good post-harvest handling practices.

“The thieves pick everything, including the raw cherries because they do it at night. I am worried the price may drop because of the compromised quality,” Musoba said.

“In several cases, Police dogs had been used to track the culprits, but many times it is found that the thieves are relatives to the farmers.

We should guard our gardens but still ask our youth to desist from the vice.

I have personally employed someone to look after the garden, which comes at a cost,” Emma Bwayo, a youth councillor in Namisindwa district, said.

Global market

Currently, the C price – the benchmark price for commodity-grade Arabica coffee on the New York International Commodity Exchange — has risen from $2.3 per kilogramme to around $4.2. In July, it touched $4.5.

Data from UCDA indicates that the local price for Arabica is sh8,000- sh9,200.

The price rise has been attributed to the events in Brazil, the global leading producer of coffee, which posted the lowest yields in 12 years after most of the plantations were ruined by drought and extreme frost.

Observers said prices are likely to remain high because it will take Brazil about five years to replace the trees that were destroyed.

In Uganda, Arabica coffee is mostly grown in the Elgon sub-region. Most parts of the country produce robusta coffee, whose price has also risen by about 30% this year. Arabica production is 20% while robusta is 80%.

Stakeholders speak out

Budadiri West MP Nathan Nandala Mafabi, who is also the chairperson of Bugisu Co-operative Union that buys Arabica coffee from farmers in the Elgon sub-region, said: “The rise in prices is good news for farmers who have lost out for a long period.

The Government and UCDA should come and control middlemen and these foreigners cheating our people.”

He said the co-operative was trying its best to give farmers better prices.

“Bugisu Co-operative Union is working for the owners who are farmers, but poverty has made our people vulnerable and hence sell cheaply to middlemen,” Mafabi said.

The director of development services at UCDA, Apollo Kamugisha, said: “Farmers should take advantage of the high prices to make money, but also remember to work on quality. Many of our farmers harvest green coffee that is not ripe and end up compromising the product, which results in fetching low prices on the international market. The farmers should handle the coffee well after harvest in order to get good prices.

The price increase is not permanent because Brazil is going to recover and prices will normalise.”

Uganda exported more than six million coffee bags of 60kg in the financial year 2020/2021, the highest total for 12 months in 30 years.

Exports for the 2020/2021 financial year were worth $559m (about sh1. 9 trillion) compared to 5.11million bags worth $496m (about sh1. 7 trillion) in the 2019/2020 financial year.

Uganda’s coffee export

Uganda is currently the second-biggest producer of coffee in Africa after Ethiopia.

Uganda exported more than six million coffee bags of 60kg in the financial year 2020-2021, the highest total for 12 months in 30 years.

Exports for the 2020/2021 financial year were worth $559m (about than sh1. 9 trillion) compared to 5.11 million bags worth $496m (about sh1. 7 trillion) in 2019/2020.