Uganda adopts National Coffee Amendment Bill 2024 into law
UGANDA – The Ugandan Parliament has passed into law the contentious National Coffee Amendment Bill 2024, approving the mainstreaming and rationalization of the functions of the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA).
This Bill amends the National Coffee Act, 2021, transferring the UCDA’s functions to the Ministry of Agriculture.
UCDA’s functions include coffee quality control, certifying all coffee exports, advising government on coffee pricing, promoting Uganda’s coffee internationally, supervising the coffee industry, and formulating sector policies.
The Bill faced resistance from opposition members and the Buganda Caucus, who opposed the integration of UCDA into the Ministry, arguing that dissolution of UCDA would risk the future of Uganda’s coffee production.
The Opposition explained that UCDA has performed its functions well, and therefore there is no need to dissolve it, and the dissolution would compromise quality control and negatively impact Uganda’s coffee exports.
However, the Government argued that rationalizing agencies like UCDA aligns with its strategy to cut redundant expenditures and improve public service delivery.
“The Coffee Amendment Bill thereby, inter alia, relieves the Government of the financial drain on its resources and the burden of wasteful administration and expenditure on the Authority yet the Ministry may perform the functions with less cost and expenditure,” said the Minister of Agriculture, Frank Tumwebaze.
The Bill is also meant to facilitate efficient and effective service delivery by clearly delineating the mandates and functions of the Ministry in relation to other government agencies and departments, thereby avoiding duplication of mandates and functions.
Uganda’s State Minister for Agriculture Bright Rwamirama recently told parliament that the winding up of UCDA would be gradually done across three years to avoid disrupting the sector.
Rwamirama further acknowledged that the proposed dissolution of UCDA has caused “tensions” in the country.
The East African nation is the second-largest exporter of coffee in Africa, behind Ethiopia. The coffee sector employs about 5 million people in Uganda, with over 1.8 million households growing the crop.
Uganda could soon start exporting coffee and milk to Africa’s most populous country, Nigeria, expanding its export market.
In September, Uganda’s state-run sector regulator reported that the value of country’s coffee exports in August soared 82.9% versus a year earlier helped by higher global prices.
In August Uganda shipped 837,915 60-kilogram bags of coffee worth US$221.6 million compared to 743,517 60-kilogram bags worth US$121.64 million same period last year.
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