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Uganda recorded $221.6 million in coffee export earnings for August 2024, marking the third consecutive month of record-breaking revenue. Over the past three months, Uganda has generated $594 million from coffee exports.

The Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) monthly report for August indicates that Uganda has once again achieved record-breaking earnings of $221.6 million (UGX 820 billion) from coffee exports.

It is noteworthy that July’s earnings of $210 million also set a record as the highest monthly revenue to date. Additionally, the earnings from June 2024, which amounted to $162.3 million, surpassed all previous monthly earnings. This signifies that for the last three consecutive months, Uganda has experienced unprecedented revenues from coffee exports.

In total, over the past three months, Uganda has generated $594 million, equivalent to UGX 2.2 trillion, from coffee exports.

According to the report, a total of 837,915 60-kilogram bags of coffee, valued at $221.63 million, were exported in August 2024 at an average price of $4.41 per kilogram. This is an increase of US cents 14 from the $4.27 per kilogram recorded in July 2024 and $1.68 higher than the $2.73 per kilogram in August 2023. This represents an increase of 13.15% in quantity and 82.98% in value compared to the same period last year.

For the twelve-month period from September 2023 to August 2024, Uganda exported 6.39 million bags of coffee, worth $1.35 billion. This reflects an increase of 5.25% in quantity and 46.96% in value compared to the 6.08 million bags worth $918.41 million exported during the previous year (September 2022 to August 2023).

Global Perspective

International trade reports highlight that Brazil, the world’s leading coffee producer, earned a total of $9.8 billion from coffee exports in 2023, while Vietnam, the second-largest producer, generated $4.4 billion. Vietnam has set an ambitious target to increase its coffee production to earn over $6 billion from exports by 2030.

President Museveni’s Call for Coffee Value Addition

In his address at the second G-25 African Coffee Summit, held at Speke Resort Munyonyo last year, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni urged African coffee-producing nations to embrace value addition in order to maximize benefits from the coffee industry.

“Of the $460 billion global coffee value, coffee-producing countries only receive $25 billion, with Africa earning $2.4 billion, of which $845 million goes to Uganda as we now produce 8 million 60-kilogram bags,” President Museveni stated.

He further emphasized the disparities in the global system, citing that non-coffee-producing countries like Germany earn $6.85 billion from coffee. “This is part of the iniquities of the current global parasitic system. Over the past 60 years, I have been involved in the struggle against this modern form of slavery for Africa—the curse of producing raw materials that are then processed by others to earn much higher profits,” Museveni said. He noted that while a kilogram of quality green coffee may sell for $2.5, the same quantity, when roasted, ground, and packaged, can sell for up to $40.

The records of monthly earnings from coffee exports of $162.3 million for June and $210.4 million for July mark the highest returns in Uganda’s history.