Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/1013597
52 STiR coffee and tea / Issue 4, 2018 (August / September) Uganda An Untold Story Unfolds Rajab Kiwanuka from Nabumbugu coffee growers group in Mityana district stands next to his high yielding coffee farm. Xavier Baluku from Isule Coffee Farmers Cooperative Society in Kasese District spreads coffee on a drying rack ahead of collection and delivery to buyers. KAMPALA, Uganda Whether it is the story of the Baganda people using coffee in a ritual sealing a blood brotherhood, the formal initiation of new comers or celebrating the birth of twins, the narratives of Uganda's coffee culture are likely to take new importance as Uganda's untold story unfolds. The former British protectorate, once ranked as the 4th largest coffee produc- ing country in the world, is seeking to revive its global standing. The newly adopted Uganda Coffee Roadmap (UCR) seeks to reclaim Uganda's position in the competitive international coffee market where it now ranks 8th at 288,000 metric tons, slightly ahead of Mexico. Deborah Malac, US Ambassador to Uganda, said "consumers in the USA when looking at higher value chains want to know the story where the coffee came from and that is how you hook people to your coffee." "In parts of Uganda coffee is a symbol of hospitality," she told STiR coffee and tea magazine. "There is a bit of coffee culture, not only in drinking coffee but also growing and producing it," she said. "Uganda producers need to figure out their story. Whether it is production taking place among women farmers, producers need to look for this story, shape it and sell it," she said. With the re-launch of the national coffee roadmap by President Yoweri Museveni in April 2017, the Uganda coffee industry successfully retraced its steps and identified what went wrong during the decades when the country experienced drastic decline in its production and export volumes. President Museveni said Ugandan farmers are losing out in the international mar- ket because they earn $2 per kilo for exporting unprocessed coffee when there is the potential to earn up to $32 per kilo if they sold processed beans. By Shem Oirere