In an effort to align with the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), the Government of Uganda, through its Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries (MAAIF), has launched a comprehensive registration initiative for coffee value chain stakeholders across the nation.
This regulation is designed to ensure that supply chains are devoid of products that contribute to deforestation and forest degradation.
Approved by the European Union Parliament on December 5, 2022, the regulation focuses on seven key commodities and their derivatives: cattle, cocoa, coffee, oil palm, soya, wood, and rubber, whether they are imported or produced within the EU.
Any commodities produced on land cleared of forest for agricultural purposes after December 30, 2020, will be prohibited from entering the EU market.
While launching the exercise at the Uganda Media Centre in Nakasero, Kampala today (October 1, 2024), MAAIF Minister Frank Tumwebaze pointed out that the EU regulations became effective on June 29, 2023, and will be applied as of December 30, 2024.
“The regulation is part of the broader efforts intended to combat climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation,” he noted.
Tumwebaze highlighted the importance of the European Union as a primary market for Ugandan coffee, with over 60% of exports going to countries such as Italy, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Portugal, Russia, Switzerland, Sweden, and the Netherlands.
As the deadline for compliance with the EUDR approaches on December 30, 2024, the Ministry, UCDA, private sector participants in the coffee value chain, and development partners are prioritizing the registration of coffee value chain actors.
This strategy is designed to facilitate the traceability of Ugandan coffee and to confirm that the source farms have not contributed to deforestation.
He noted that this initiative also aims to demonstrate that “our coffee farming is environmentally friendly and sustainable”.
The EUDR requires that all products exported or imported to the EU market are; deforestation-free; the production of coffee was done on land that was not subject to deforestation or forest degradation after 30th December 2020; must be produced in accordance with the relevant legislation of Uganda; and should be accompanied by a due diligence statement; containing geolocation data adhering to traceability standards that enable buyers to trace each batch of coffee back to its designated land plot.
Tumwebaze remarked that, fortunately, the National Coffee Act of 2021, which has recently been enacted in Uganda, includes provisions for the establishment of a national register for stakeholders in the coffee value chain.
“This partly answers the compliance requirement in (b) above,” he added.
He said the registration of coffee value chain actors is an essential precursor to the creation of a National Traceability System.
“Such measures are vital for supporting our coffee farmers, enhancing sustainability, improving market access, and ensuring compliance with both local legislation and international regulations,” he added.
Free of charge
The minister emphasized that the registration process is being conducted free of charge by the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) and partners.
He allayed fears of some actors, saying it is not to serve any other purpose apart from enabling the development of the value chain and access to global markets.
“When farmers are profiled/registered, extension outreaches and information dissemination become easy,” he noted.
Registration process
A dedicated Technical Working Group has been established to oversee the effective implementation of EUDR regulations.
This group comprises representatives from UCDA, Ministry Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and the private sector.
A Geospatial Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) System and Farmer Registration Application has been developed.
This innovative system will capture geolocation data for all production plots where coffee or related products are cultivated.
Tumwebaze also noted that a team of enumerators will be carrying out the registration process on behalf of UCDA and industry players.
All coffee value chain actors including farmers, traders, processors etc, will be registered.
What will be registered?
The enumerators will record essential details of the value chain actors such as their name, farm name and location, type of coffee grown/produced, among others.
In addition, enumerators will map farms/gardens by recording their GPS coordinates.
Tumwebaze explained that UCDA will store and manage the data collected in partnership with NITA (U) and will ensure compliance with the Data Protection Act during the collection, storage and management.
He said in addition to the efforts towards retaining the existing markets, the Government of Uganda will continue efforts to promote agricultural products such as coffee to emerging markets including China, Middle East, Maghreb among others.
He commended other Development Partners (aBi Development and United Nations Development Programme) for the funding support and Civil Society organisations for mobilizing farmers.
He appealed to all leaders (political, cultural and religious), coffee value chain actors, and district local government leaders to support the registration exercise.
“It is crucial for ensuring continued access to international markets and effective mapping of coffee farms. I emphasize that this is a win for all,” he said.
Tumwebaze noted that different markets have different requirements for coffee imports.
“Forexample imports into China require registration with the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China (GACC), Sudan being a main consumer in Africa requires ISO Certification and submission of annual test results for both physical and biochemical coffee parameters to Sudanese Standards and Metrology Organisation (SSMO) and the European Union requires compliance with the EUDR,” he added.
He noted that Uganda’s approach has been to ensure adherence to the set standards.
Statistics
Coffee’s global annual value is $465 billion and ranks as the world’s second largest revenue earner after oil.
Uganda is ranked 7th largest coffee producer in the world and the second in Africa.
Coffee is one of Uganda’s main foreign exchange earners contributing 11-22% of commodity exports in the last 11 years i.e. averaging 14% over the period.
Coffee is grown on an estimated 353,907 hectares of land by about 1.8 million smallholder farmers and 90% of these smallholder farmers own gardens ranging between 0.5 and 2.5 hectares in size.
More than 9 million people in Uganda are estimated to derive their livelihood from coffee-related activities along the value chain.
Notably, global demand has been growing at a rate of approximately 2% annually over the last 20 years.
Coffee exports for twelve months (Financial year 2023/24) totaled 6.13 million bags worth US$ 1.14 billion compared to 5.76 million bags worth US$ 846.02 million in the previous year (Financial year 2022/23).
This represents an increase of 6.33% and 35.29% in quantity and value respectively.
Italy maintained the highest market share with 41.96% compared to 44.66% last month.
It was followed by Germany 10.55%, India 7.41%, Sudan 6.87% and Spain 5.40%.
In FY 2023/24, the 10 major destinations of Uganda coffee took 5,390,551 bags accounting for 87.94% of total exports.
Coffee exports to Africa amounted to 987,138 bags in FY 2023/24 accounting for 16% of total exports. African countries that imported Uganda coffee included Sudan, Morocco, Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Kenya and South Africa. Europe remained the main destination for Uganda’s coffees in June 2023 with a 69% imports share. In FY 2023/24, Europe imported 4,023,480 bags of coffee representing 66%.
