Uganda will host the 54th Inter-African Coffee Organisation Annual General Assembly and the 2nd African coffee Symposium from 17th to 21st November at the Kampala Serena International Conference centre.
Established in 1960 the IACO is an inter-governmental organization which brings together coffee producing countries in Africa with a common objective of creating a common platform to develop the coffee industry in Africa. IACO has 25 member states, representing 12 percent of the world’s coffee Production.
The theme of the symposium is “unlocking the potential of the African coffee Industry” and this follows the first successful symposium held in Togo under the theme “Position, Perception and potential of African coffee” which analysed challenges facing the sector and the need for continued international cooperation to ensure a sustainable African coffee economy
The 2nd African Coffee symposium will take place from 17th to 18th November and among others will enable Uganda to showcase its finest coffees to the world and gain more insights on the latest information impacting the coffee industry regionally and globally.
Hosting the symposium will not only position Uganda as one of the biggest coffee exporters in Africa and the home of Robusta coffee and centre of Robusta Excellence but will also enable local farmers and farmer’s organizations to establish networks and linkages with international coffee value chain actors.
The symposium will also aim at discussing the strategic issues and potential responses that need to be addressed by policy makers in the African coffee sector. Bringing together 25 member states from Africa and other foreign delegates the symposium will also seek to disseminate Uganda’s tourism potential.
Addressing a press conference on Friday 14th November Executive Director Uganda Coffee development Authority (UCDA) Henry Ngabirano reiterated the need for Ugandans to drink coffee adding that it would have an impact on quality.
“The biggest challenge in my view is that Ugandans don’t drink coffee and this is largely due to the lack of knowledge on the health benefits of drinking coffee” Ngabirano stressed.
He added that the consumption of coffee is still low in Uganda because the wider public has a negative perception about coffee drinking. Ngabirano encouraged the wider public to attend the symposium adding that scientific expert knowledge will be provided during the symposium.
“The symposium will bring together leading coffee researchers who will share their expert knowledge on the health benefits of drinking coffee such as preventing several diseases including diabetes, Alzheimer, Psoriasis and improves on alertness” Ngabirano stated.
He noted that there is more money in processing coffee for consumption rather than growing coffee for export. “If we grew and processed coffee up to the final stage and the consumption levels were high then the revenues would increase by tenfold” he said.
‘If we begin producing coffee for consumption and not for trade then there would be a big change” Ngabirano continued.
Ngabirano also revealed that government wasn’t going to kill small scale coffee producers but would slowly graduate them into large scale producers.
Meanwhile the General Secretary IACO Fred Kawuma revealed that climate change and coffee wilt disease posed a challenge on coffee production but was happy note that government together with other private stakeholders had taken steps to deal with the challenges.
The symposium which takes place from 17th to 18th November will be opened by the Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) Hon. Tress Buchanayandi and a total of 300 delegates are expected to attend while 240 participants will be from Uganda and 60 delegates will be drawn from the 25 IACO member countries.
While the 54th IACO General Assembly will be held from Wednesday 19th to Thursday 20th November and will be opened by the Hon. Prime Minister Dr.Ruhakana Rugunda. Twenty exhibitors will participate in showcasing their products or ventures in the coffee industry and will comprise of both Ugandan based and international exhibitors.
The four day event will climax on Friday 21st November where two field visits have been organized to the coffee value chain enterprises in Mubende and tourist sites in Jinja.
According to Fred Kawuma in Africa Uganda is ranked the number one exporter of Coffee on the international markets.
Kawuma added that Uganda produces 4 million bags annually and sold at Shs 60 per Kg while Ethiopia grows more coffee at 8 million bags annually which is consumed locally.
