Students introduced to economics of coffee value addition at school farm camp

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Adding value to crops from agriculture is the latest campaign being promoted by government, spearheaded by the President of Uganda, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.

The aim is to ensure that farmers earn more money from value-added products, jobs are created, and the shelf life of products is increased.

To further promote this campaign, officials from the National Union of Coffee Agribusinesses Enterprises (NUCAFE) have partnered with Gayaza High School and other stakeholders to equip students with skills in adding value to coffee.

According to Joseph Nkandu, the executive director of NUCAFE, the challenge is that too much emphasis in schools has been placed on primary production.

“So what we do as NUCAFE is to create that bridge between primary agriculture and industry to ensure that our young ones are able to learn how to add value to a commodity like coffee and when you add value in financial terms, what does it mean,” he said.

He added that showing students the economics of value addition has been lacking in the education system, yet bridging primary production with industry will enable young people to learn more and change their mindset towards agriculture.

On Sunday, August 24, students were taken through the value addition process at the NUCAFE factory in Gayaza. They also learnt about the different stages of coffee processing leading to the final product that can be traded in the market.

“So, on this Sunday, students at our factory will learn the practical and the whole process that we go through in adding value to coffee,” Nkandu explained at the NUCAFE factory in Namanve.

Running under the theme Skilling the Youth in Climate Smart Agriculture and Environment Conservation, the 11th edition of the school farm camp was organised by Gayaza High School with support from URUS, GROW Project, Engineering Solutions, NUCAFE and SUMZ, among others, added Patrick Muhinda, the school farm camp coordinator.