Uganda to showcase coffee, tea in Moscow

PIC: Coffee is the number one foreign exchange earner for Uganda

COFFEE | EXPO

The Embassy of Uganda in Moscow, in collaboration with the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA), will showcase coffee at the Coffee and Tea Expo.

The expo will take place from March 15 to 17 in Moscow, Russia.

Coffee is the number one foreign exchange earner for Uganda, fetching $450m (sh1.6 trillion) per year.

Uganda produces a lot of coffee, but consumes only one million bags a year and the rest is exported.

UCDA is one of the major exhibitors at the Expo and will be represented by two officials.

Samson Mpiira Akankiza, the coffee sustainability manager and CORE project co-ordinator at UCDA, will participate in the event and will expose the participants to the "black gold of Uganda".

The Uganda Tea Development Agency will be represented by four officials at the event.

The event gathers coffee and tea lovers, drinkers, producers, conglomerates of buyers as well as other stakeholders in the industry from all over the world.

The Expo is a great platform and opportunity for Uganda to tell the world about coffee and tea, seek partnerships and business opportunities.

Agriculture state minister, Christopher Kibazanga, recently told a global coffee meeting in Kampala that coffee production has the potential to create over 500,000 jobs to Uganda annually.

According to interventions that have been made in the coffee sector over the last few years, coffee production is projected to increase from 5.4 million bags per year from the previous financial year 2016/17 to 6.5 million bags this financial year 2017/18.

AFP