Sh1.6b Sweden-funded coffee project targets over 500 youths in Uganda

Over 500 coffee-growing youth farmers in Uganda are to benefit from a sh1.6b (€360,000) coffee-growing project.

It is funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), an agency working on behalf of the Swedish parliament and government.

The target is farmers in three coffee farmer cooperatives certified by Fairtrade, which is implementing the two-year project alongside the Ugandan government.

Two of them are Bukonzo Organic Farmers Co-operative Union (BOCU) in Kasese district and Bushika Integrated Area Cooperative Enterprise (BIACE) in Bududa district.

The other one of Kashari farmers is in Mbarara district.

The selected cooperatives have a combined membership of 17,000 farmers, according to Faith Muthoni, who oversees the operations for the Eastern and Central Africa Network at Fairtrade Africa. 

The project will run until December 2027.

Maria Håkansson, the Ambassador of Sweden to Uganda, said the initiative is in response to the growing challenge across many coffee-producing countries, including Uganda, where an ageing farmer population and limited opportunities for young people threaten the long-term sustainability of the sector.

“Young people must be given a seat at the decision-making table in the coffee sector," Håkansson said while officiating at the launch of the project in Lweza on Thursday.

"Uganda has excellent coffee production potential and is well-positioned to benefit from growing global demand. Fairtrade Africa is a strong example of how civil society organisations add value through their community connections and local presence,” said Håkansson.

John Nuwagaba, the chairman of the Uganda Fairtrade Network, representing the Fairtrade Certified coffee cooperatives in Uganda, spoke of the need to mobilise and train youths in order to strengthen their participation in the coffee sector.

“The majority of the Ugandan population is youths, yet our cooperatives have ageing farmers between 60–65 and ageing coffee trees," he said.

Uganda is known for its native Robusta coffee (85%) and high-altitude Arabica coffee (15%), with the sector thriving on smallholder production.

The East African nation is currently producing between eight and nine million 60-kilogramme bags of coffee annually.

Due to high demand for its coffee on the world market, the country is targeting a production of 20 million bags by the year 2030.

Rauben Keimusya, the commissioner for coffee production at the agriculture ministry (MAAIF), said youths are the key in pushing the sector in today's technologically-advancing world.

He said that later this year, the buying of coffee on the world market will shift from analogue-based to traceability-based sourcing.

Here, a smartphone application will connect the data of one's coffee farm mapping in order for one to access the European Union market, where Uganda exports 70% of its coffee.

Keimusya said coffee exporters must ensure their product is deforestation-free, legally produced, and fully traceable to the plot of land, in conformity with the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR).