Uganda targets to increase coffee production

Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) and Uganda Cooperative Alliance (UCA) will today (Wednesday) sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at UCDA's headquarters at Coffee House in Kampala.

 

"We are excited to be partnering with Uganda Cooperative Alliance," said Dr Emmanuel Iyamulemye Niyibigira, managing director UCDA. "We believe that through this collaboration we will strengthen farmers through recruiting farmer organisations, cooperatives and associations across the country."

 

UCDA is a statutory body with a mandate to oversee the coffee industry by supporting research, promoting production, controlling coffee quality and improving marketing of coffee in order to optimise foreign exchange earnings for the country.

 

According to Iyamulemye the partnership with UCA is in line with the coffee roadmap that was recently launched by President Yoweri Museveni. The roadmap aims at increasing coffee production from 4 million bags per year to 20 million bags per year in 2025. UCA is an umbrella body of cooperatives in Uganda registered in 1961.

 

"It will help to train farmers in leadership and business development, and facilitate the distribution of inputs, provision of water for irrigation, access to finance including credit and risk management, advocacy, collective marketing as well as community mobilisation," added Iyamulemye.

 

The goal of the memorandum of understanding is to have all farmers join farmer organisations that provide members with services required to drive farmer production and productivity and to make the organisations self-sustaining entities.