Trade Minister David Bahati has challenged Uganda’s coffee farmers to increase production and raise quality standards if the country is to maximise the economic opportunities presented by its rapidly growing coffee industry.
Bahati said Uganda has made major strides in coffee exports and has established itself as Africa’s leading coffee exporter, but warned that the achievement will only translate into greater national wealth if farmers can consistently supply sufficient quantities of quality coffee.
“We need production. We need quantity and quality,” Bahati said while launching the Coffee and Cocoa Expo 2026 in Kampala, urging farmers to treat both productivity and quality as priorities.
He said Uganda also needs to move away from relying heavily on exports of raw coffee and invest more aggressively in local processing. According to Bahati, a kilogramme of green coffee sold in raw form for roughly US$1 could potentially generate up to US$25 when processed and value is added.
Bahati said greater local processing would create employment, increase household incomes and allow Uganda to retain a larger share of the wealth generated by its agricultural products. Government, he said, is supporting this transition through investments in infrastructure, standards and measures designed to attract processors.
He revealed that government has approved a US$168 million Market Access project aimed at strengthening infrastructure and standards, including laboratory facilities. Uganda is also pursuing opportunities in East Africa, Europe and Asia, with the AfCFTA providing access to a continental market of about 1.2 billion people.
Private Sector Foundation Uganda Executive Director Stephen Asiimwe, however, said Uganda’s challenge is increasingly found within the production chain rather than a shortage of buyers. He said farmers often lack financing to sustain them from planting until harvest, leaving some with no choice but to sell their coffee early and potentially at lower prices.
Asiimwe also called for expanded irrigation and stronger agricultural extension services, arguing that unreliable rainfall, plant losses and limited technical support continue to undermine productivity. He urged greater attention to fertiliser use, disease management, pesticide application and proper storage, while Bahati called on sector players to submit concrete recommendations that government can use to address bottlenecks and help Uganda earn more from its coffee through higher production, better quality and increased value addition.
