According to the most recent report on export volumes by the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) and the Coffee Sub-Sector Agency from the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries in Uganda, coffee exports in March 2020 amounted to 477,561 60-kilogram bags worth $45.87M. This was made up of 385,978 bags of Robusta coffee (worth $33.09M) and 91,583 bags of Arabic coffee (worth $12.78M). Given the complications arising from the global crisis, this increase of 38.39 percent in quantity and 35.72 percent in value, which are respectively from the same month in 2019, is surprising to many.   Hon. Vincent Bamulangaki Ssempijja––the Minister for Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries––says that because of this trend, the country is still on track to implement approaches outlined by the Coffee Roadmap with support from the government, private sector, and development partners.   While speaking at the official closure of the 5-year USAID Feed the Future Enabling Environment for Agriculture Project in Kampala, Dr. Emmanuel Iyamulemye––the Managing Director of the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) — highlighted the supportive role of the US Government through the project, which can be summarised in the following channels:  

• Development of the National Agricultural Extension Policy and its Implementation Strategy to address past shortcomings in agricultural extension service delivery and cause sustained progression of smallholder farmers from subsistence agriculture to market-oriented and commercial farming.
• Launch of the National Seed Policy and Strategy to foster a pluralistic, competitive, and vibrant seed system in Uganda––ensuring farmers have access to quality seed, improved crop quality, and expanded farm yields which increases incomes for farmers, traders, exporters, and other seed sector actors.
• Development of Harmonized Farmer Training Materials on maize, beans, coffee, poultry, and aquaculture for use by extension workers to train smallholder farmers and other actors in the value chains.
• Development of the National Food and Agricultural Statistics System (NFASS) and the purchase of IT equipment and accessories worth $100,000 to outfit the national agricultural statistics data center.
  • NFASS will aid MAAIF in evidence-based policy making, planning, investment analysis, and performance assessment.
• Development of the Climate Change Strategy for the Agriculture Sector to galvanise efforts to empower stakeholders to take measures towards the reduction of the negative impacts of climate change and variability on agriculture.
  • The MAAIF Climate Change strategy is a response to government’s commitment to realize a climate-resilient and low-carbon development path for sustainable development in Uganda in line with the Uganda National Climate Change Policy (NCCP) and its corresponding Implementation Strategy (2015).
• Development of Capacity Strengthening Initiatives including training of ministry top policy management, senior management, inspectors and extension workers.
• Collaboration in the development of Agricultural Mechanization, Livestock and SPS Policies.

Dr. Emmanuel Iyamulemye, the UCDA Managing Director, and Mr. Milton Ogeda, the Country Manager of the USAID Feed the Future Enabling Enabling Environment for Agriculture, speaking at the project closure in Kampala in March this year.

This direct and indirect support on the country's coffee sub-sector has contributed to increases in both the quality and quantity of coffee produced. And, according to the report, improvement in quality has increased purchase of coffee exported from Uganda by the U.S. The results are therefore from the combined efforts of the Government of Uganda, the private sector, research, and development partners.