Uganda Coffee Report: Record-High Production Driven by Young Robusta

Robusta coffee growing in Uganda. “coffee beans” by rhinman is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Coffee production and exports in Uganda are each estimated to increase by approximately 4% this market year (2023/24), largely due to favorable weather and the maturation of coffee trees planted prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

These and other estimates have been updated in the USDA Foreign Agriculture Service (FAS) annual market report on the Ugandan coffee sector.

[Note: This is part of a series of DCN stories exploring the FAS coffee annual reports. The U.S. information agency is currently scheduled to deliver 16 annual country-level reports on the coffee sector. Each of those reports come from different authors and field offices.]

Uganda’s overall production has been revised upward to a record-high level of approximately 6.85 million 60-kilo bags, with arabica production holding steady at approximately 1 million bags. The increase in robusta production is attributed to largely favorable weather conditions, as well as the fruit-bearing maturation of robusta trees that were planted in 2019.

“To help increase production, Uganda’s government has provided farmers with high-quality seedling varieties and extension services since 2017,” the report states. “Although this support has reportedly declined since 2020, in part due to Covid-19 related restrictions and limited resources, many high-yielding Robusta trees planted before 2020 have begun to mature.”

Further reflecting that government-led push towards increased coffee production is the revised estimate of planted land in Uganda. The approximately 450,000 coffee-planted hectares in 2016/17 has swelled to 570,000 hectares this year.

“Uganda’s government has continued to improve coffee production through improving extension outreach, issuing certified seedlings to farmers, and cracking down on counterfeit agrochemicals supplied to famers,” the report states. “Local sources indicate coffee seedling support remains below pre-COVID 19 levels, largely due to limited financial resources.”

According to the report, domestic consumption has risen slightly, from 300,000 to 325,000 60-kilo bags, largely due to demand in Kampala and other urban areas.

According to the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA), Uganda’s top export destinations include Italy, Sudan, Germany, India, the United States and Morocco.

The FAS report notes that earlier this year, Uganda agriculture leaders struck a deal with a Korean quality control specialist in order to maintain import access to the South Korean market. South Korea has maintained strict requirements regarding the presence of the common mold ochratoxin in coffee imports.

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