A delegation of Kenyan government officials, researchers and members of coffee and dairy cooperative unions is in Uganda on a benchmarking visit to learn more on how Uganda has managed to increase its coffee production over the years and surpassed Kenya whose coffee production has declined over the years, impacting smallholder farmers and the overall value chain.
Uganda produces significantly more coffee annually compared to Kenya. Uganda’s annual production is around 300,000 metric tons, while Kenya produces approximately 50,000 metric tons annually.
The Kenyan delegation headed by Mr. David Obonyo, the Commissioner for Cooperative Development in the Ministry of Cooperatives and MSME Development kicked off their benchmarking visit with a meeting with the Minister of State for Cooperatives Hon. Frederick Ngobi Gume at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives at Farmers House in Kampala.
Obonyo told the meeting that his team is in Uganda to learn and share on the strategies Uganda has put in place to increase its coffee production with a main focus on coffee seedling propagation, coffee research and coffee marketing through cooperatives.
“In Kenya, we have experienced a massive decline in our coffee production mainly due to the adverse effects of climate change, pests and diseases, the aging plantations coupled with limited research. That is why we are here to acquire knowledge on coffee research and the new varieties that we can adopt to increase our production”, said Obonyo.
Obonyo added that Uganda has also excelled in organizing coffee farmers in cooperatives and unions which has helped the farmers to bulk their coffee, improve quality and ultimately access global markets.
On the dairy value chain, the Kenyan delegation wants to learn from Uganda on sustainable animal feeds production that can guarantee increased milk production. Uganda’s milk production is slightly higher than that of Kenya, with Uganda’s annual production estimated at around 5.4 billion liters while that of Kenya is estimated at 5.2 billion liters annually.
Obonyo says although Kenya produces good quantities of milk, their biggest challenge in production of quality animal feeds which is very expensive for their dairy farmers.
Minister Frederick Ngobi Gume told the delegation that the revival of the cooperative movement by the NRM government, saw the revamping of many of the agricultural cooperatives including those in coffee that were affected by the instability that caused a collapse of many cooperatives.
“As government, we have put in place a regulatory framework that has enabled the cooperatives to thrive. Recently, we amended the Cooperatives Societies Act with the aim of liberalizing the cooperative movement to give more power to cooperators to govern themselves”, said Gume.
Gume added that apart from playing the monitoring and supervisory role of the cooperatives, Government continues to inject money in cooperatives especially the Savings and Credit Cooperative Organisations (SACCOs) to ensure that they access affordable credit.
Minister Gume said although its Kenya that has come to Uganda to benchmark, Uganda is also eager to learn from them in some areas where Kenya is doing very well. He said now that Uganda is in the process of reviving the Cooperative bank, Uganda wants to learn how Kenya has managed to run a vibrant cooperative bank which offers cheap credit to its members.
During their 4 days benchmarking visit, the Kenyan delegation will have meetings with officials from Uganda Cooperative Alliance and Uganda Cooperative Savings and Credit Union Limited (UCSCU), the two National Apex Organizations for Cooperative Societies in Uganda. They will also visit the National Coffee Resources Research Institute in Mukono, Ankole Coffee Producers Cooperatives Union, Kyamuhunga Peoples SACCO, Kitumbi Kayonza omen Miners Cooperative in Kassanda district among others.
