How Bushenyi coffee farmers are overcoming climate change impacts
Apollo Lee Kakonge has turned to better coffee varieties to escape other challenges such as pests and diseases. PHOTOS | ZADOCK AMANYISA
What you need to know:
- A 2021 report by the Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change (IPCC) indicated that climate change will reduce worldwide yields on average and decrease coffee-suitable land by 2050. Uganda is vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change, which threaten its ecosystems, people’s livelihoods, and ultimately the national economic development efforts. As Zadock Amanyisa writes, coffee farmers in Bushenyi District have woken up to the fact that if they do not carry out adaptation and mitigation strategies, the shifts in temperatures and weather patterns may, in the long run, disrupt their earnings from the world’s second most consumed beverage.
Across the country, 2024 was a favourable year for coffee farmers and other players in the coffee value chain, thanks to the rising demand for the product, globally. In October 2024, the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) reported an increase in coffee exports and prices.
A total of 496,820 60-kilo bags of coffee valued at US$139.05 million were exported in October 2024 at an average price of US$4.66 per kilo. Farm-gate prices for Robusta Kiboko averaged Shs6,500 per kilo, Fair Average Quality at Shs12,500 per kilo, Arabica parchment at Shs12,500 per kilo, and Drugar at Shs11,500 per kilo.
The high prices have caused excitement among farmers in different parts of Uganda to the extent that some tea farmers in Bushenyi district have uprooted their tea crops to plant coffee.
Under a clear blue sky, radiant sunshine casts warm rays across the hills of Kyabitara village, Nyabubaare sub-county in Bushenyi district. The warm weather is a surprise since the rains began in October. Apollo Lee Kakonge and his wife, Phionah Kyokusiima, are spending the day in their garden.
Kakonge’s estate comprises beans, bananas, cassavas, and coffee gardens. For him, and most of the farmers in Bushenyi district, the cultivation of coffee is much more than a livelihood. In the Ankore sub-region, growing coffee is a legacy.
However, not all is rosy, with the future of the coffee crop in jeopardy due to the growing impacts of climate change.
Climate change nightmare
Climate variations are a major threat to coffee farmers who depend on the weather for their livelihood. The volatile weather patterns, intensifying temperatures, and increased pressure from pests and diseases are all affecting coffee yields, quality, and the income of farmers.
Kakonge says the changes in the weather, especially the prolonged dry season, are a challenge because coffee is dependent on the rain. He adds that small-scale farmers like him do not have the finances to install irrigation equipment on their farms.
“Over the years, we have not been getting reliable rains. For example, heavy rains should have started in September but we are getting intermittent rainfall. Sometimes, it only rains once a week,” he says.
As a result, the coffee plants are not flowering as they should have, and even when they bear fruit, the fruits remain small and do not have enough weight on the market.
“This means the yields will be small and our income per plant will go down. So, those of us who had started introducing new gardens have decided to delay for six more weeks because you cannot predict whether we shall have rains over the next months,” Kakonge adds.
Venansio Ndyabahika, a resident of Kakanju sub-county has embarked on the restoration of a degraded wetland from where he expects mulches for his coffee garden.. PHOTO | ZADOCK AMANYISA
The Ankore sub-region experiences two rainy seasons, with the first running from January to June and the second from August to December. Apprehension about climate change is evident at different levels, with smallholders in the industry bearing the burden of dwindling soil productivity and yields.
Other farmers like Emmanuel Kweyunga, a coffee farmer in Nyakabirizi Division in Bushenyi-Ishaka Municipality, are also grappling with the small amount of rainfall.
“In the dry season, like the one coming in January, we only get rain when God wishes. The crop that should be flowering is not doing so. And even when the rains come, they come with an intensity that is not good, flooding and submerging gardens. When the crops are destroyed, we are pushed out of the sector,” he laments.
Nicholas Kagurutsya, Bushenyi district’s agriculture officer, points to the fact that unpredictable weather patterns have also caused moisture limitations in the soil, forcing coffee farmers to switch to other varieties to control pests and diseases.
“Moisture limitations hamper the growth and development of coffee plants. Disease-resistant coffee seeds are also very sensitive to the moisture content of the soil. We provided farmers with such seedlings, but during the dry spell, over 50 percent of the crop dried up due to limited water in the soil,” he explains.
Mitigating measures
Sustaining the momentum of earning good prices from their coffee yields requires deliberate action to address the effects of climate change. Farmers are now employing innovative mitigation strategies to sustain coffee production.
Building resilience requires a combination of mitigation and adaptation techniques to tackle the current and future impacts of climate change on the coffee business. According to Kweyunga, farmers are now using sustainable agricultural techniques such as water conservation, crop rotation, and irrigation, among others.
“We need to bring water to the plant, instead of letting its roots seek for water in the soil. My coffee crop needs about 1,200 liters of water in a year. We are creating catchment areas by digging trenches in the gardens to hold water. This helps us to control runoff in case it rains,” he explains.
The farmers have also embraced intercropping and agroforestry to attract pollinators and improve the ecosystem.
“We planting trees such as ficus and grevillea robusta, especially in the gardens with Robusta coffee plants, to provide them with shade and act as windbreakers. In the other coffee gardens, we have intercropped the plants with bananas,” Kweyunga adds.
Emmanuel Kweyunga has intercropped his coffee with plantain to minimise losses accrued from climate change impacts. PHOTO | ZADOCK AMANYISA
Virtuous Tumanye, another coffee farmer in Kyabugimbi sub-county has practiced agroforestry arguing that the integration of trees in her four-acre coffee plantation plays a role in carbon sequestration and in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
“I am sure that even if strong winds were to come, they would not bring my coffee trees down because of the tree species I have planted in the plantation. The trees also help in carbon sequestration and because of this, I have also registered myself into conservation groups. In the next few years, I will be cashing in on both the coffee and the trees - in terms of carbon credits and their fruits,” she says.
Kagurutsya confirms that the government is supporting farmers to purchase and use individual solar-powered irrigation equipment, through the Micro-scale Irrigation Program under the Department of Agricultural Infrastructure Mechanisation and Water for Agricultural Production of the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries (MAAIF).
“The farmers co-fund 25 percent of the cost while the government pays the rest. We are promoting irrigation to ensure that farmers have water all year round. We are also providing agricultural advisory services to guide farmers on proper planning and better agronomic practices,” he says.
However, Kakonge says the irrigation program is still too expensive for all farmers to adapt since the installation cost is quite high.
“For instance, the cost of installing an irrigation project is about Shs20 million. By paying 25 percent, the farmer is expected to fork out Shs5 million. Not many farmers have that kind of money sitting around. An acre of land will bring in a harvest of about Shs15 million, but when you deduct the costs of labour and fertilisers, you cannot break even,” he argues.
What other farmers are doing
In the Rwenzori sub-region, the Bukonzo Organic Farmers Cooperative Union is using credit and training to help farmers become more resilient to climate impacts. The cooperative has planted 96,000 shade trees so far, which helps the soil retain more water and provides shade for coffee crops in the face of rising temperatures.
In central Uganda, the Buganda Kingdom, in collaboration with Akko International and Grundfos, launched solar-powered irrigation systems to ensure the sustainable growing of coffee and other crops. These solar-powered systems aim to increase agricultural productivity while reducing the adverse effects of climate change, empower and equip farmers to adopt modern farming techniques and adapt to changing environmental conditions.
Under this project, about 1,386 irrigation systems across Buganda and other parts of Uganda will benefit about 100,000 farmers in a three-year project.
Globally, coffee production is now concentrated in a handful of developing countries such as Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Uganda, Honduras, Peru, Guatemala, and others.
Reports indicate that due to climate change, significant shifts in land allocated for coffee production within the next three decades may result in land conflicts between coffee production and the conservation of wetlands and forests.
