1.0 Sector Background
Coffee is one of the most important cash crops in Uganda playing a major role in the livelihoods of many poor people and is a major foreign exchange earner in Uganda. Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA), the government agency responsible for the sector, estimates that about 500,000 households depend on coffee production. There are two main types of coffee grown in Uganda namely Arabica and Robusta coffee. Annual production on average is made up of 15% Arabica and 85% Robusta. In addition to serving as a main source of income, coffee has many other uses and thus provides many opportunities for value addition investment. Coffee can be used as a medicine to cure asthma, headaches, and Alzheimer’s disease. As a stimulant, coffee can inhibit sleep which can make some one to keep working for longer hours. Coffee is also known to have over 700 different compounds and thus has numerous industrial uses especially in the chemical industry.
2.0 Production Information
Coffee is mostly grown in mixed farms where it is intercropped with food crops such as bananas and beans which ensure households’ food security. It is also grown among shade trees that result into sustainable coffee production, while ensuring a social, economic and suitable environment that requires a minimal use of agro-chemicals such as fertilizers, pesticides and fungicides. Cheap labor available in Uganda enhances great opportunities for investment in the coffee sector.
|The Investment Centre,Plot 22B Lumumba Avenue,
P.O. Box 7418 Kampala, Uganda