UCDA to keep smelling coffee aroma after its merger stalls

Information from State House Entebbe indicates that three parliamentary committees — National Economy, Finance, and Agriculture — have resolved with President Museveni to delay the rationalisation of the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) until 2027.

The decision comes after a National Resistance Movement (NRM) caucus meeting in mid-August ended prematurely due to opposition from NRM members against the President's proposal to merge the UCDA into the Ministry of Agriculture.

The President subsequently summoned the three key committees for another meeting, which took place last evening at State House Entebbe.

During the meeting, the members of the three committees—Agriculture, Finance, and National Economy—together with the President, agreed to push back the rationalisation of UCDA to 2027.

"In the spirit of ensuring that his vision regarding middle-income status is achieved, the President, after receiving our submissions on the progress of UCDA, agreed that the Authority be given an additional three-year extension towards rationalization and that it continues to regulate the coffee sector, assisted by the Ministry of Agriculture," said Basil Batalingaya, MP for Kashari North.

Kimanya Kabonero MP Abed Bwanika said UCDA has entities within it that are certified by the world coffee market.

"Should we proceed with this direction, the market could be distorted," he said.

"The Ministry of Agriculture has several loans it has failed to utilize, and adding another responsibility would affect the production of good and quality coffee internationally. All these world coffee organizations work with agencies, and coffee contributes 15% of foreign exchange earnings."

obert Migadde, MP for Buvuma Islands, claimed that some countries like Kenya and Somalia, which had adopted a similar policy of rationalisation, saw a decline in coffee production, and they reverted to the earlier policy.

The Nile Post could not independently verify the claims.

In the same meeting at State House Entebbe, the three parliamentary committees accepted the rationalisation of Uganda Dairy Corporation Ltd into the main ministry, following the President's submission that the ministry has more expertise in the sector.

The President told the committees about the progress made in the dairy sector, from the days of unprocessed milk to the current stage where milk is now powdered and exported.

He further noted that the sector has advanced with minimal input from management.