Coffee Break

Uganda coffee exports rise as eyes turn to the Chinese market

- Godfrey Olukya

Cups of steaming and aromatic locally produced coffee were among the most popular beverages served to delegates from across the globe at the 2019 Africa-China Poverty Reduction and Development Conference held in Uganda in November last year.

The conference, attended by more than 20 Chinese delegates and hundreds from other countries, served coffee on more than 10 occasions in just two days.

The coffee was widely praised for its memorable taste, with many delegates interested in marketing it back in their own countries. Uganda’s Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries Vincent Ssempijja said at the conference, “We have given [samples of] coffee to the delegates not only for their drinking pleasure, but also as a marketing strategy of Ugandan coffee. We still need more markets for our coffee in their countries.”

Ssempijja said his country’s coffee exports have increased greatly in the past few years because of an increase in production, improvement in quality and aggressive marketing.

Leading cash crop

Coffee has been Uganda’s leading cash crop since the 1960s. The country is Africa’s largest coffee exporter, followed by Ethiopia and Côte d’Ivoire, according to the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA), which said more than 600,000 households depend on coffee production in the country.

The UCDA said in the past 20 years, about 80 percent of Uganda’s coffee was destined for the European Union and 20 percent was exported to Sudan; but since about 5 years ago, more coffee has found its way to Asian countries, including China.