Coffee production in Uganda
Cocoa production declined in the 1970s and 1980s, however, and market conditions discouraged international investors from viewing it as a potential counterweight to Uganda's reliance on coffee exports.
[4] From 1999 to 2002 an effort was made to commercialize this coffee as a premium consumer brand, emulating and extending the success of shade grown in Central America.
The Kibale Wild Coffee Project, an initiative that involved international organizations such as the World Bank and United States Agency for International Development, aimed to implement sustainable harvest of coffee from Uganda's natural reserves and guarantee compensation for all workers involved in the harvest.
These figures remained almost constant throughout the decade, although a substantial portion of the nation's coffee output was smuggled into neighbouring countries to sell at higher prices.
Prices for parchment arabica, grown primarily in the Bugisu district of south-eastern Uganda, reached 62/50 a kilogram, up from 50/=.
Moreover, Uganda's entire quota increase was allocated to arabica coffee, which was grown primarily in the small southeastern region of Bugisu.
Coffee prices plummeted, and Uganda was unable to make up the lost revenues by increasing export volumes.
In October 1989, the government devalued the shilling, making Uganda's coffee exports more competitive worldwide, but Ugandan officials still viewed the collapse of the ICO agreement as a devastating blow to the local economy.
Cocoa production declined in the 1970s and 1980s, however, and market conditions discouraged international investors from viewing it as a potential counterweight to Uganda's reliance on coffee exports.
Locally produced cocoa was of high quality, however, and the government continued to seek ways to rehabilitate the industry.
In part due to the high price of the commodity on the international market that compensated the low production rates coming out of the 1980s.
One of the primary reasons for this export drop resulted from the decreased demand for coffee, and consequently, a lower market price for the commodity.
[11] Arabica coffee is usually grown in mixed farms with food crops for home consumption like beans, peanuts and bananas.
Studies project that a 2 degree Celsius increase in temperature can severely reduce the amount of coffea canephora that can grow in Uganda.
From 1999 to 2002 an effort was made to commercialize this coffee as a premium consumer brand, emulating and extending the success of shade grown in Central America.
Initially it was led by the Uganda Coffee Trade Federation, until the independent US-based non-profit Kibale Forest Foundation was created to take over the project.
The Kibale Forest Foundation, which was fully acknowledged and officiated by Uganda's government, was primarily tasked with inspecting the processes of wild coffee harvest and ensuring that the workers involved in this production were compensated.
Compensation included both direct payment via wages as well as predetermined public projects, which were planned in accordance with community preferences.
[13] Part of enforcing quality standards of coffee production chains in Uganda was to ensure that there were no more wage disparities between men and women.
