African Fine Coffees Review Special Edition Oct-Dec - EAFCA

22
SPECIAL REPORTS
Uganda Quality Coffee
Traders Moves To Act.
It is not un-common to find someone else to blame
whenever a problem occurs in our lives or business. It
even gets more complex if the numbers of players are
in different locations and at diverse stages, making it even
harder to point a finger on where the bark starts and stops.
This scenario floated over the minds of most industry players
about the idea of closing gaps in Uganda’s coffee quality value
chain.
Motivated by the desire to improve quality through sustainable
and coordinated arrangement, the Uganda Quality Coffee
Traders and Processors Association was born. A confluence
of main traders, middlemen, farmer representatives and
exporters giving a mix that is a perfect dressing for the
occasion. The association seeks to supplement UCDA`s
statutory mandate of ensuring total quality management of
the coffee product and process throughout the supply chain.
Hardly a year since its birth, the association has taken giant
steps in both achievements and partnerships, boasting of
over 1500 registered members and development partners.
In a ground breaking countrywide tour, in partnership
with UCDA, USAID-Lead project, Uganda Police, local
leaders and farmers, the association generated deep sense
of stakeholder responsibility towards quality and quantity
improvement.
The discussion centered on addressing the core issues
such as coffee quality deterioration indicators, Changes in
the Ugandan coffee quality trends, Methods and ways of
preserving quality, Incentives of quality produced especially
increased prices and value, Constitutional & regulatory
framework on coffee quality control, Disadvantages of poor
quality produce and also GAP (Good Agronomic Practices).
During the sensitization workshop Mr. Ssekitoreko a coffee
farmer in Masaka district since late 90’s, enumerated how he
carefully sorts and minds his quality, but despite his individual
efforts, his neighbors out of a mixture of ignorance and lack
of incentive don’t pay full attention to their crop which in the
end ruins Mr Ssekitoreko’s coffee, as middle men would bulk
these coffees and even at times adulterate with foreign matter.
Harvesting of immature, unripe cherries, poor drying
methods, poor processing techniques were all key factors
Scaling up quality coffee production in Uganda
Beans from the Pearl
affecting the
quality and
production of
coffee at the farm level.
“The story of Ssekitoreko is played out through the
value chain where different players shift the blame
to a third party highlighting the gravity of the
quality crisis.” According to Mr. Aloysius Lubega the
chairman of the association.
With this association a practical conversation has
been started and the industry seems to be shaking
off the blame game, as each of tiers in the value is
involved in action to improve Uganda’s coffee quantity
and quality. To the much delight of the founders, Mr
Edmund Kananura the head of quality at Uganda
Coffee Development Authority has resonated well
with the cause and after a few months UCDA has
presided over a turn around of Drugar coffee from
Kasese restoring its superb cup profile and total
elimination of Robusta traces.
But here is the real question: could this association
present a different kind of opportunity, one that
disperses power into the hands of the many rather
than consolidating it in the hands of the few; one
that radically expands the We, rather than Them? In
short, could UQCTPA be the beginning of A People’s
Quality improvement answer? Recent results are
pointing to a brighter future and the industry could
have woken yet another sleeping actor.
By Michael Nuwagaba
About Beans from the
pearl
In this blog, our correspondents
report on the developments with
Uganda, better known famously by
the name given to it by Sir Winston
Churchill -
“The Pearl of Africa”