UCDA makes case for registration of coffee farmers ahead of  new EU export regulations deadline

Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) has said registration of coffee farmers all over the country will greatly benefit the sector and streamline exports.

The European Union Deforestation Regulation(EUDR) that comes into effect on December, 30  requires that farmers prove that their coffee is from land where no deforestation has occurred since 2020 to export to the European market.

Speaking during a breakfast meeting at Hotel Africana on Tuesday, Gerald Kyalo, the Director Development Services at UCDA said the registration is not only meant to register farmers but to ensure they adhere to the new regulations.

“The registration process is meant for traceability and making sure our coffee accesses the EU market. We must be able to trace our coffee and that is the bottom line. Traceability of coffee means we conduct farmer registration but in reality, we will be capturing geo location of the farms and few details of farmers,” Kyalo said.

“The registration is for traceability to know where your farm is located and how big it is. This will help in tracing the farm where a certain batch of export is coming from.”

He explained that farmers will at least 10 acres of coffee will have polygons of their farms for record purposes that coffee from these farmers will be easily traced when exported.

According to the official from UCDA, according to the new regulations, Ugandan coffee exporters will be required to trace the coffee along the value chain, map every chain operator between the producer and their warehouse.

“As long as you have 10 acres and above we shall take polygons of the garden. We take different coordinates and end up with polygons. For those below 10 acres, one coordinate will be enough.”

Kyalo said the registration will not be a one-off since there are always new entrants into the coffee value chain.

“The registration process will be continuous and to be done by UCDA. Our officers in the field will continue to capture the new farmers coming on every financial year into the system to have an updated register,” Kyalo said.

“The regulation requires that we must show evidence that our coffee doesn’t contribute to deforestation and for us to show this evidence we need to trace our coffee back to the farmer wherever they are. This means we must have the register for all the farmers and their gardens as well as the coordinates of their gardens. As a country we must register farmers and be able to trace the coffee back to their gardens.”

Officials from UCDA say they are soon engaging different stakeholders on the registration of coffee farmers, noting that they are soon reaching out to Buganda Kingdom among other cultural institutions.