STiR coffee and tea magazine

28 STiR coffee and tea | 2023 Issue 5 (October / November) National Coffee Research Institute and its partners provide technical assistance to help growers plant new varieties successfully. Ugandan coffees' cup quality is rising, and the new arabicas will help. of the nation's coffee cess (export tax) income, or 0.01% of the total coffee export revenue, but this amount varies from year to year. UCDA says the variability of NACORI's income makes research planning difficult and puts ongoing research projects at perpetual risk of coming to a halt, even if temporarily. "Inadequate research funding has also limited coffee re- search on breeding varieties, leaving other areas of coffee farm- ing like general agronomy, pests and disease management, and climate smart coffee cultivation unaddressed," says UCDA. Value chain role The stakes are high for Uganda, which has a national vision to reach upper middle-income status by 2032. Coffee has been the nation's leading earner of foreign exchange for more than 20 years, contributing approximately 20 percent of the total ex- change earnings. Some 1.8 million households farm coffee, and the sector provides employment for over 5 million households. The stra- tegic plan calls for creating at least 40,000 jobs throughout the coffee value chain if the agenda can be implemented success- fully. The plan calls for modernization of post-harvest handling and storage, as well as improving coffee processing and value addition. Expanding arabica coffee production in Uganda would boost the overall coffee growth plan as the variety is known to be "more competitive on the international market because of its superior quality and generally attracts better prices" according to UCDA. Sustainable Arabica 960 1.77 % 214,634 2.10 % 3.73 BugisuA+ 1,440 2.65 % 463,965 4.54 % 5.37 Bugisu AA 4,027 7.42 % 920,467 9.00 % 3.81 Bugisu AB 821 1.51 % 171,213 1.67 % 3.48 BUGIsu CPB 79 0.15 % 22,467 0.22 % 4.74 BUgisu C 2,880 5.31 % 753,427 7.37 % 4.36 Wugar 3,611 6.66 % 799,749 7.82 % 3.69 Drugar 24,134 44.48 % 4,854,694 47.49 % 3.35 Triage 16,304 30.05 % 2,022,274 19.78 % 2.07 Total arabica 54,256 100.00 10,222,891 100.00 % 3.14 Coffee Exports by Type, Grade, & Unit Price in August 2023 Coffee type Quantity 60-kg bags Share of total Value in USD Share of total value Unit price USD/kg quantity Source: UCDA Uganda has already made progress in planting and exporting more arabica. In 1991/92, the species accounted for just 8% of coffee exports, a figure that had risen to 24% in 2017/18, when total exports were much higher, according to UCDA. In 2023/24 however, USDA figures show that arabica will com- prise about 14% of production, apparently because robusta out- put has grown faster than arabica since 2019. Across the board in coffee, Uganda's track record is good, judging from UCDA figures published in the Strategic Plan. One government-led program distributed some 1 billion supe- rior coffee seedlings between 2016 and 2019. Total output has almost doubled from 4 million bags produced in the 2014/15 financial year. Between 2015 and 2020, the number of compa- nies involved in value addition — exporters, hullers, washing stations, roasters, etc. — rose by 38%. And Ugandan coffees are winning recognition for quality. Beans from Uganda collectively ranked third among 25 coun- tries at the recent Coffees Roasted at Origin Competition 2023 held in Paris. A total of 13 Ugandan roasts took prizes among the 200 coffees sampled. Uganda's arabica growing districts are characterized by warm temperate environments at altitudes between 1,300 and 2,500 meters above sea level. These districts include the slopes of Mount Elgon in eastern Uganda, Mount Ruwenzori to the west and Mount Muhabura to the southwest.

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