The parliamentary coffee platform have embarked on the bid to revamp coffee growing, production and processing of the once Uganda’s top-earning export crop to also improve people’s livelihood. Uganda Coffee Development Authority wants the fast tracking of the Coffee Bill 2015 to regulate coffee growing, production, and marketing.
In a bid to revamp coffee growing in the region, the Uganda parliamentary platform have embarked on programmes to bring all stakeholders involved in the coffee process to revamp and raise the standards which have declined in the recent years. According to the chairperson of the committee and MP Kakuuto county Mathias Nsubuga, Uganda has slowed down in coffee growing compared to the past when the population was small. But recently government has set a goal in a replanting programme to plant 100 million seedlings per year in three years and this is a ray of hope for coffee farmers.Members of the forum say they now want to especially bring on board the youth who are still energetic and productive to keep them busy and deal with unemployment. However, this has to be done with the help of Uganda Coffee Development Authority that needs to provide them with inputs like seedlings, taplins and fertilizers; plus small scale machines to improve on the coffee.
The Managing Director Uganda Coffee Development Authority has asked Members of Parliament on the platform to help in the fast tracking and enactment of the Coffee Bill 2015 that is apparently before the parliamentary committee on agriculture. Sheema woman MP and the publicity secretary of the platform Rosemary Nyakikongoro gave an assurance that the bill will be passed before the end of business for the ninth parliament.
However, according to UCDA, farmers are still faced with challenges like pests, climate changes, lack of appropriate technology to irrigate and process the coffee to harvest better.