Uganda, Vietnam explore ways of boosting coffee production
On Monday (August 10), Uganda’s delegation led by agriculture minister Frank Tumwebaze met the Vietnamese vice minister of agriculture and rural development, Nguyen Hoang Hiep, on the sidelines of the two countries' business summit in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi.
Uganda’s delegation led by agriculture minister Frank Tumwebaze met the Vietnamese vice minister of agriculture and rural development, Nguyen Hoang Hiep, on the sidelines of the two countries' business summit in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi. (Courtesy photo)
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Uganda and Vietnam have explored ways of increasing coffee production and productivity for their respective countries.
On Monday (August 10), Uganda’s delegation led by agriculture minister Frank Tumwebaze met the Vietnamese vice minister of agriculture and rural development, Nguyen Hoang Hiep, on the sidelines of the two countries' business summit in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi.
Tumwebaze said the coffee growing profile of Vietnam is more or less the same as Uganda, with Robusta being over 80% and Arabica below 20%.
“The difference, however, is that Vietnam’s productivity is much higher than ours. They harvest on average 3.5 tonnes per hectare compared to ours of about 1 tonne or less per hectare,” the minister explained after kicking off their three-day engagements in the Southeast Asian country.
Uganda’s delegation led by agriculture minister Frank Tumwebaze met the Vietnamese vice minister of agriculture and rural development, Nguyen Hoang Hiep, on the sidelines of the two countries' business summit in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi. (Courtesy photo)
He promised that they would be discussing more in detail with their Vietnamese counterparts the measures and appropriate technologies for productivity enhancement.
Tumwebaze and his team are in Vietnam for the business summit and also to follow up and review implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2022 during the state visit of President Yoweri Museveni in Hanoi.
Export earnings fall
However, Uganda’s earnings from coffee declined year-on-year to $150.81m in April 2026, from $214.38m in April 2025.
The fall in the value of the coffee exports is attributed to a decline in the volume of exports and in the price per kilogramme. The quantity declined from 687,299 60-kilogramme bags in April 2025 to 591,687 60-kilogramme bags in April 2026, while prices fell from $5.15 per kilogramme to $4.25 per kilogramme over the same period.
Similarly, the value of Uganda’s coffee earnings declined on a monthly basis, on account of lower volumes exported and a fall in the price per kilogramme.
The coffee prices continue to decline in line with the fall of international coffee prices, due to an improved global supply outlook following increased supply from Vietnam, Indonesia and Ethiopia.
A month-on-month analysis reveals that export earnings declined by 2.4% from $1.43b in March 2026 to $1.40b in April 2026. This decline was mainly attributed to a fall in earnings from coffee, cocoa beans, sugar, tobacco, beans, and oil re-exports, among others.