Coffee farmers are all smiles over rising prices

Coffee farmers in different parts of the country are all smiles following an upsurge in coffee prices.

Currently, the farm gate price of a kilogramme of Robusta coffee (FAQ or Kase) is Shs125,000, compared to Shs6,500 last year. The price is about the same for Arabica coffee.

The farmers from Rwenzori, Greater Masaka to Mt Elgon are excited by the high prices, which has motivated them to plant more coffee.

As a result, coffee nursery bed operators are having a field day. 

Mr Joseph Nkandu, the executive director of the National Union of Coffee Agribusiness and Farm Enterprises (NUCAFE), says there is a rising global demand for coffee.

“More countries have now switched to drinking coffee, including highly populated countries such as China and South Korea. There is increased coffee consumption even in traditional large-producing countries such as Brazil, which consumes 40 percent of its coffee,” he says.

“Right here in Uganda, our consumption of coffee has gone up. This is borne out of mushrooming powder coffee-producing companies such as NUCAFE Coffee, Kibinge Coffee, and several others. I even expect the coffee prices to go much higher,” he adds.

According to the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA), coffee exports in February amounted to 434,582 60-kilo bags, which is worth $82.56 million. The value of the coffee exports was higher than last year, and this, according to UCDA, was due to the prevailing high global coffee prices.

Buganda Kingdom under its Mwanyi Terimba Programme has also contributed to the ongoing coffee planting craze.

Many of the farmers that Daily Monitor spoke to are looking forward to this coffee season as an opportunity for them to buy cars, improve their homes by buying new furniture and other items, and pay tuition for their school-going children while others are planning to buy more land to plant more coffee.

However, the high coffee prices have come with a new wave of crime and insecurity.  The chairperson of Mateete Sub-county in Sembabule District, Mr Beka Byayi, says: “My people no longer sleep in their houses these days. They are up and down all night guarding their coffee gardens against thieves. ” 

Mr Shafiq Ssenyimba, the Masaka regional coffee extension officer at UCDA, says the biggest complaint he has received from the farmers is coffee theft.

Due to the rising prices, coffee traders also have problems. “Most of us don’t have the amount of money that is now required to stay in the coffee trade business,” says Mr Lawrence Ssekyaya, a coffee trader at Manja Village, in Kisekka Sub-county, Lwengo District. 

In the central district of Kassanda, leaders have been tasked to come up with a by-law to curb coffee theft.

Production forecast
According to UCDA, world coffee production for 2023–24 is forecast to reach 171.4 million bags, 6.9 million bags higher than the previous year of 164.5 million bags, with higher output in Brazil, Colombia, and Ethiopia expected to more than offset reduced production in Indonesia.

Global exports are expected to increase by 8.4 million bags to 119.92 million bags, mainly due to strong shipments from Brazil.