Govt to provide Shs32.5bn for coffee traceability system
Parliament has asked the government to provide shs32.5 billion to the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) to establish a coffee traceability system aimed at having all coffee farmers and players in the coffee sector registered.
"UCDA needs shs35 billion for the establishment of this system, but only shs2.5 billion has been provided in the FY2024/2025 budget, leaving a gap of shs32.5 billion,” said Janet Grace Okori-Moe the woman MP Abim district in a report of the Committee on Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries on the ministerial policy statement and budget estimates for the Financial Year 2024/25.
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The traceability system will register coffee value chain players including nursery operators, processors, exporters and farmers as well as ensuring that Uganda is compliant with European Union’s requirements for deforestation free products.
The Managing Director at Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA), Dr.Emmanuel Iyamulemye told Nile post that government is committed to register all coffee farmers and have the National Traceability System in place so as to comply with the European Union Regulations on deforestation-free products (EUDR).
‘"National Coffee Register as provided for in the National Coffee Act 2021, will be a precursor to the creation of a National Traceability System (NTS) aligned with European Union Regulations on deforestation-free products (EUDR) requirements," said Iyamulemye
The regulation which takes effect on January 1, 2025 requires that exporters of commodities such as coffee, cocoa and their derivatives must submit specific documents to export to the EU market.
The regulation sets specific criteria for products imported into and exported out of the EU market to be deforestation-free. Additionally, the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CS3D) compels companies to undertake mandatory due diligence to identify and address human rights abuses and environmental damage in their global value chains.
The European Union has been supporting the Ugandan coffee value chains through two major projects implemented by UCDA over the past five years.
The EU-EAC Market Access Programme worth EUR 3.638.000 and the Coffee and Cocoa Value Chain Development (CoCoDev) Project in Uganda worth EUR 8 million have supported the value chain development from smallholder farmers to certification, among other areas.
Uganda is Africa’s biggest coffee exporter and the continent’s second-largest producer of the beans after Ethiopia.
President Yoweri Museveni’s administration has overseen the planting of millions of new trees in recent years as part of plans to increase annual output to 20 million bags by 2030.
