Coffee from Uganda

Uganda is the second largest producer after Ethiopia and the largest exporter of coffee in Africa. The country produces 75% Robusta and 25% Arabica, due to climatic conditions mainly “natural” (cherry-dried) Arabica in the west and “washed” (pulped and washed) Arabica in the north-east and north-west, as well as both types in the south. The best-known regions for high-quality Arabica are the Bugisu and Kapchorwa districts on the slopes of the volcanic Mount Elgon range in the East, Kasese district in the Rwenzori Mountains, Kigezi district in the volcanic mountains on the borders of Congo and Rwanda and the West Nile district in the highlands on the border to Congo and South Sudan The best Robusta areas are Masaka (central Uganda) and Rukungiri-Bushenyi (southwest).

Uganda was one of the first countries in East Africa that liberalized the coffee market in the 1990-ies. The Uganda Coffee Board had been the main portal for coffee farmers, organized in cooperatives, to access the market. Mismanagement both in the Board as in the many cooperatives had left farmers disadvantaged and the opening of the market was initially welcomed. However, local subsidiaries of multinational companies and a host of middlemen have taken over the liberal market and farmers’ bargaining position has weakened as compared to the existence of – in principle – strong cooperatives. Fluctuations in world market prices have affected Ugandan producers often severely, and in many instances producers gave up the intensive work on their coffee farms in order to achieve a better and more stable income from other agricultural products.