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First Deputy Premier and Minister for East African Community Affairs Rebecca Kadaga raised concerns over the adulteration and rebranding of Uganda’s coffee by other countries, during her speech at the 30th National Agricultural Show in Jinja. She emphasized the need for focused efforts to protect Uganda’s coffee identity.

Prison officials gifting Kadaga (2nd right) with furniture and maize seeds at the closure of the 30th National agricultural show in Jinja on Sunday. (Photo by Newvision)

Despite Uganda’s coffee export growth on global market, First Deputy Premier and Minister for East African Community Affairs Rebecca Kadaga says the product has continued to face the challenge of being repackaged and later labelled by other countries.

Kadaga says cases of adulterating Uganda’s coffee elsewhere and later rebranded by other countries was common saying as stakeholders, they needed to find a way of fighting the vice.

Speaking at the closure of the 30th National Agricultural Show at the Source of River Nile in Jinja city on Sunday, August 4, 2024, Kadaga, without mentioning the countries doing such, said they needed to find what she termed as ‘a way of being focused’ to ensure that Uganda’s coffee hits the market all over.

Organised by the Uganda National Farmers Federation (UNFFE), an umbrella body that brings all farmers in the country together, the 10-day event was held under the theme: Innovating Pathways to Farm Business led by Agro-industrialisation.

However, Doreen Rose Rweihangwe, the director quality and regulatory services at the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA), attributed the challenge to lack of value addition chain.

UCDA’s Doreen Rweihangwe (2nd left) and other officials with their trophy which they scooped as best government institution at the closure of the show in Jinja om Sunday. (Photo by Newvision)

Rweihangwe said the majority of farmers are selling their coffee without adding any value and whenever other players come across such products, they blend it with coffee from elsewhere and after adding value, they brand it as their own product.

“Farmers need to roast their coffee, blend it and add more value but if it sold plainly, other players take advantage by improving on the product claiming it is made from Vietnam yet it is an origin from Uganda,” she said.

Patrick Nabongo, the chairperson of Busoga Coffee Farmers, buyers and Processors Co-operative, said there were cases of smuggling coffee to South Sudan from Arua bus park but the UCDA swung into action and intervened.

He added that Kenyans also used to buy premature coffee from Uganda claiming to be extracting oil from it and after working closely with UCDA, Nabongo said the practice ended.

He challenged the Government and UCDA to follow up on Kadaga’s outcry in order to protect Uganda’s top produce from being exploited.

According to Rweihangwe, it is the role of the Government to intervene by ensuring that it supports farmers with machinery to enable the country earn more profits if exported.

Besides, such hiccups, Kadaga hailed UCDA for its consistency in promoting coffee not only in Uganda but internationally.

According to Rweihangwe, Uganda earned $1.14b from coffee exports in the fiscal year of 2023/2024 up from $846m in the previous year.

Kadaga told UCDA to open up more shops in other parts of the world to ensure that Ugandan coffee is more known.

Organisers awarded best exhibitors with trophies where the Uganda Prisons Service was crowned the overall while NARO scooped that of best researchers and UCDA was recognised as the Government’s best entity among others.