International Coffee Day brews hot deals

At the 300-acre Kamaama Farm in Masaka District, there was the smell of coffee as farmers gathered for the International Coffee Day.

The International Coffee Day is observed every year on October 1 around the world to raise awareness for coffee growers and promote fair trade in coffee.

With focus on boosting Robusta coffee part of the day’s elaborate celebrations, Masaka, which is the coffee producing hub of Buganda was chosen to host the events.

Buganda region contributes 30 per cent of the coffee exported from Uganda. Masaka region in particular, produces two million 60kg bags annually. More than 400,000 households in Masaka depend on coffee cultivation for survival.

As part of the festivities, guests learnt about coffee, with exhibitors such as local roasters offering a free cup of coffee.

But there were more gains. Although inputs, especially fertilisers remain pricey, it was observed that coffee production and export volumes have increased immensely.

President Museveni directed in 2014 to increase the production target to 20 million bags by 2025.
Last week, the (Uganda Coffee Development Authority) UCDA has revealed an increase in coffee production by 3 percent.

According to the latest report, coffee exports for the financial year 2021/22 amounted 6.26 million 60kg bags worth $862.28m.

Dr Emmanuel Iyamulemye Niyibingira, the managing director of UCDA says Robusta Coffee still leads Arabica contributing up to 80 per cent of the general produce and export. Production is set to increase to nine million 60kg bags by next year.

The increase is attributed to promotion campaigns of improved varieties, distribution of coffee seedlings, training farmers, control of pests and diseases, promotion of use of fertiliser, value addition, as well as standards, among others.UCDA also partnered with Coffee Quality Institute to develop Robusta protocols used all over the world.

Ethanol-based baits 
Dr Godfrey Kagezi, a Naro principal research at the National Coffee Research Institute (NaCORI) in Kituuza explains that the institute has developed an ethanol-based trap to help farmers get rid of the black twig borer pest.

The black coffee twig borer is a major pest in robusta coffee areas and has mainly been reported in Toro, Mubende, Busoga, Bugisu and Sebei sub-regions.

The black twig borer is a beetle smaller than a grain of rice. It is one of the few of its kind that attacks healthy hosts. 

Once the females find a suitable host, they chew a hole in a small branch to lay eggs.
The symptoms include wilting of twigs and branches within one or more weeks after beetles have entered the twigs.

Once a host is infested, insecticide applications will not control the insect. Pruning is the only means of removing them. 

According to Dr Kagezi, an ethanol-soaked bait, made from used plastic bottles opened at the top is hung on coffee trees.

He explains that researchers found that beetles bore into the trees with ethanol bait leave without reproducing or growing fungi limiting the damage they cause to crops.
The bait can be replaced every fortnight.

But Naro scientists are concerned with intellectual infringement of their research.  
Last week, Naro incubation team held a sensitisation workshop with the institute staff at their station in Mukono on Intellectual property and commercialisation policy frameworks.

Certified
At the event, Mwanyi Terimba, the Buganda kingdom coffee development company that started buying coffee beans in May 2022, was granted an export certificate by UCDA.Buganda Kingdom directly sponsors the company to buy coffee which is sorted at their hired facility in Namanve.

The company sells the coffee outside the country as well as to local companies such as Nucafe, Olam, and Kyagalanyi.

Charles Peter Mayiga, the kingdom premier, says the next step is to add value to coffee through processing it.