Established in 1991, Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA)  supports all coffee development activities from research to coffee consumption. We spoke to UCDA Managing Director  Henry Ngabirano.  Excerpts:-

What does UCDA do?

We support all development activities right from research through coffee consumption. Anything in the value chain we have our fingers maintained in terms of support. On top of that we also provide information we collect; statistics on behalf of government in terms of coffee processing. We do financially support the research institute under the NARO to do researchable areas we have identified in the coffee industry like yield, better quality, and weed and disease control. All these areas we have supported in terms of collaboration with the research institute.

Uganda, the second leading producer of coffee in Africa, is blessed with some of the best coffee in the world. The coffee is grown on the slopes of Mt Elgon in eastern Uganda and other parts of the country. There has been an increase in coffee growing in the world, which has surpassed demand and thus lowered the prices. However, experts in the sector project a surpassing increase in demand in the next three years.

But, what continues to worry coffee experts is the wide discrepancy between coffee consumption in the producing countries and their counterparts in non-coffee growing countries. Presently 20% of the world population consumes coffee. Surprisingly 58% of this consumption takes place in non-coffee producing countries in Europe, USA, and Japan. The fastest consumption growth rate has been recorded in Asia, the Pacific, Central and Eastern Europe with the remaining percentage registered in coffee producing countries.