By Our Reporter
Director of the World Sustainability Organization, Paolo Bray has made an urgent appeal to the government and farming community in Uganda, for coffee farming and production to be made more sustainable.
He stressed that Uganda risks losing its position as one of the world’s major coffee producers, if immediate action is not taken.
Coffee is one of the world’s most consumed drinks, with Uganda as one of the leading exporters of Robusta coffee in Africa. The cash crop earned the country US$559 million in 2021.
In 2021/22 overall coffee exports stood at 6.26 million bags valued at $862.28 million, according to data from the Uganda Coffee Development Authority.
However, reports reveal that in recent years the plant is increasingly threatened, with the year 2023 marking a challenging period. This is as a result of inconsistent weather conditions, droughts, long-term climatic changes, ineffective harvesting methods, poor soil conservation techniques, unsustainable farming practices, and a recent dry spell that hit major growing areas; posing a huge threat to coffee production levels.
Paolo Bray has appealled to the government and farming community in Uganda to take immediate action to make coffee farming and production more sustainable in order to mitigate the adverse effects.
Industry experts forecast unsustainable coffee production can potentially cut output to around 5.5 million bags in 2023.
“The importance of the coffee sector as a key driver of rural economic activity and income source cannot be understated. Between 1.2 and 1.7 million families in Uganda produce coffee,” Paolo Bray stated.
“With an economy largely dependent on agricultural commodities, and the coffee crop constituting a major source of foreign exchange; it is imperative for the government and farming community to prioritize sustainable coffee farming and production in Uganda,” he added.