How EUDR can digitally revolutionise Uganda’s coffee sector

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OPINION

By Bryan Jumba

In 2024, the European Union enacted the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), requiring that all coffee sold in the EU be certified as not grown on land cleared of forest after December 31, 2020. This regulation, although designed to promote environmental sustainability, initially appeared to be a substantial barrier to Uganda’s coffee trade, a market where the EU remains one of our largest buyers.

For many sceptics, this seemed like another policy hurdle imposed by developed economies. Surprise, months ahead, and I see potential and immense opportunities for Uganda. The EUDR engagement, well harnessed, can be a springboard for reform and innovation in the all-important Uganda Coffee Sector.

Thankfully, recognising both the challenge and opportunity, ABI Trust, with strategic support from the then Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA), took swift action.

The country embarked on an ambitious effort (the very short EU timelines were nearly meant to fail us) to digitally map all coffee farms, aligning with EUDR compliance. Farmers were skeptical, but with active education series, many were won over, especially because it was a carrot and stick undertaking, you don’t map your farm, you can’t sell your coffee – Period!

Today, Uganda stands ahead of its regional neighbours in implementation—a leadership position we must now leverage.

This digital mapping now gives us an opportunity to go beyond merely proving compliance.

It opens the doors to a data-driven revolution in Uganda’s coffee industry. Uganda now has access to an unprecedented national database showing: Where each coffee farm is located; How many trees are planted; The age and variety of trees; and The identity and location of each farmer.

This data can be used far beyond compliance. It is a strategic resource that can enhance productivity, inform targeted investments, and modernise every node of the value chain. We can now: Track disease outbreaks and enable early responses, Tailor climate adaptation strategies by village, Align extension services with real-time field data and guide quality-based market linkages among others.

Imagine if every coffee farmer could earn digital points for good agricultural practices—mulching, pruning, fertilising, or intercropping—all updated via a simple mobile app and verified through periodic audits. These points could translate into input subsidies or credit access, serve as a proxy for creditworthiness in the eyes of financial institutions and further help agri-insurance firms more accurately price risk, making it cheaper for farmers.

This concept—akin to a farmer productivity scorecard—has been piloted in countries like India and Colombia with positive results. Uganda has an opportunity to localise this innovation.

I am an advocate for coffee seedling distribution, as was started by the NAADS program, albeit a late adopter. Uganda's past seedling distribution programs, though impactful, have faced logistical challenges—delayed disbursements, seedling wastage, and gaps in last-mile delivery.

With digital mapping, a more efficient and cost saving model becomes possible: Government and development partners can stock seedlings at central stores, say at the subcounty or even district; Farmers, grouped by location, can digitally log requests based on verified farm size; Distribution can then be demand-led, transparent, and timely.

Post distribution, each farmer’s digital profile can be updated with seedlings received and survival rates, which contribute to their overall farm development score—laying a foundation for performance-based support.

The value of this data will continue to grow. Applied correctly, it can power AI models to predict yields and disease outbreaks and simulate the effects of climate scenarios.

In addition, we can use it to benchmark productivity across districts, thus enabling national coffee planning and export forecasting with high accuracy to mention but a few.

This is not theoretical. Rwanda, for instance, has successfully used coffee traceability systems to improve quality control and build brand equity in global markets. Now farmers can tell their story with legitimacy. Kenya is testing similar systems for maize and dairy.

Uganda can leapfrog both with a unified, real-time, AI-integrated coffee intelligence platform, which can then be adopted for other areas like dairy, maize, cassava etc.

To maximize this opportunity, strategic alignment across government, the private sector, and farmer organisations is critical. Suggested immediate actions include: Enacting a National Coffee Digital Registry policy team to protect and guide data use; Develop a system to support on-the-ground data audits, similar to the quality assessment that UCDA used to have in all coffee growing areas just this time it is specific to a unit farm with KPIs on digital farm auditing at least 50% of the farms each year. There is opportunity to unlock agricultural financing by linking digital data to financial institutions or even input distributors for credit supplies to farmers and government for provision of performance-based subsidies as incentives.

If we embrace this momentum with the right policies, investments, and partnerships, Uganda can become a global leader in sustainable, tech-enabled coffee farming. The time to act is now. The roadmap is clear. The opportunity is vast. We can create a resilient, intelligent, and inclusive coffee sector. For a better Uganda.

The writer is an Economist - Development, Policy and Innovation

fbryans@gmail.com