Export earnings surge in 2016/17 coffee year

Uganda’s earnings from coffee exports increased 66.7% in the year ended September 2017, which also marks the Uganda Coffee Development Authority’s coffee year.

Coffee exports in the period were 4.6m 60-kilo bags worth $544.5m, from 3.3m bags valued at $326.6m in the previous period, according to a report by UCDA.

The authority attributed the rise in quantity exports to newly planted coffee trees, which have started yielding.

Meanwhile, September’s exports rose 68.7% in value to $38.5m compared to the same month last month, with shipments rising to 341,839 bags from 208,956 bags.

Most of the exports were to the European Union, which had a 63.6% share, followed by India with 7.8%, Morocco with 3.12%, and Algeria with 2.5%.

Coffee is Uganda’s most valuable export commodity, contributing 15.5% to the total value of exports in financial year 2016/2017.