Uganda to get governmental help for coffee growers

Ugandan

It has been long documented that Africa has a strong connection with the coffee industry.

It has been said that the first coffee beans were discovered there after an Ethiopian goatherd noticed the effects of coffee cherry consumption by his flock.

Since then, coffee has become a significant market for several African countries.

However, as reported in All Africa, it transpires that the Ugandan coffee market is getting a little help from its government.

The Ugandan government is planning to help its coffee farmers by distributing 100 million coffee seedlings.

The plants will be given to coffee farmers, in a bid to help households to kickstart their income by growing and selling coffee.

A spokesperson from the Uganda Coffee Development Authority confirmed that, although some of the seedlings have already been distributed, the Authority have only received money for 41 million seedlings to date.

The shortfall is to be chased by the agriculture committee. In the Maputo declaration, it was decided that African governments would commit at least 10% of their national budgets to agriculture from 2003.

However, this has not always materialised in practice and Uganda is said to be far below this requirement.

Let’s hope that the remaining funds arrive shortly, so that coffee production can flourish accordingly.