Uganda coffee export numbers tell a bold new tale

• Uganda coffee business is experiencing a surge in both production and value of exports. 
• The country’s coffee export revenue rose to $1.97 billion in FY2024/25.
• Uganda President Museveni pushes for local value addition.

Uganda’s coffee sector is hitting new highs, with production rising from 7.8 million sacks in FY 2022/23 to 8.2 million sacks in FY 2023/24. The surge in output is fuelling a trade boom, with export earnings jumping from $845 million to $1.144 billion over the same period.

“This is a reflection of the sector’s growing commercial strength,” remarked President Yoweri Museveni. To sustain this momentum, he announced a USh30 billion allocation in the FY 2025/26 budget to the National Coffee Research Institute (NaCORI) — an investment aimed at developing high-yielding, pest-resistant, and climate-resilient coffee varieties.

Museveni underscored that this investment anchors Uganda’s bold ambition: to scale up annual coffee production to 20 million sacks (60kg each) by 2030 — a vision that could transform the country into a global coffee powerhouse.

Supporting the sentiments, the Executive Director of the Uganda Development Corporation (UDC), Dr. Patrick Birungi, said even though Uganda’s agriculture sector has declined, generally speaking, its share to the country’s GDP having tumbled from 34.1 per cent in 2000 to just 24.9 per cent this year, coffee on the other hand has defied the troubled sector.

“While agriculture was once a driver of industrialization, today it suffers from low productivity, minimal value addition, and a structural disconnect between employment and economic impact,” the Executive Director lamented.

He agreed with the president saying; “This mismatch, where agriculture remains employment-heavy but value-light, is a structural challenge we must urgently address.”

Read also: Africa’s coffee finds a new frontier market across Gulf countries

Brewing success: Uganda coffee sector performance

The coffee sector in Uganda engages over 1.8 million households presenting a unique opportunity to catalyze social and economic transformations in the country. In this regard, coffee experts in the country are looking into value addition options right at home.

The country has already invested in agro-industrial and strategic infrastructure development and the private sector players are following suit. For example, Uganda has set up the Luwero Coffee Park, a flagship project led by Nonda Commodities, a Ugandan firm that is working in partnership with Ingazi Group International, a Saudi-based investment firm.

“Upon completion, the facility will process up to 35,000 metric tonnes of coffee per year, making it one of the largest coffee value addition centers in the country,” details a press release circulated to local media.

“Through this investment, Nonda Coffee and its partners are not only creating market-ready, premium Ugandan coffee products, but also laying the foundation for job creation, industrial linkages, and inclusive economic participation across the value chain,” read the media report.

It further holds that; “By localizing value chains, modernizing processing, and deepening government-private sector collaboration, coffee can reclaim its historical role as a driver of industrialization, just as it was in the early post-independence era.”

“We need to rethink how we position agriculture in our development agenda,” Dr. Birungi urged. “It should not just feed our people, but also power our industries, earn foreign exchange, and lift millions out of poverty,” he concluded.

Uganda coffee: Value chain development

Uganda’s coffee production is expected to expand in the 2025/26 marketing year, with a forecast of the equivalent of 6.88 million 60-kilogram bags, reports the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA).

According to the UCDA, this is an increase of 2.6 per cent from the previous year; “The increase is attributed to favorable weather, the maturing of improved seedlings, and a national program that offers low-interest loans to farmers,” details a UCDA report.

The report sets out a focus that; “Exports are projected to reach 6.53 million bags, an increase of 2.8 per cent from the previous season.”

As for market, the European Union continues to be Uganda’s leading coffee market, and is followed on the heels by the United States, Morocco, India and China.

According to the UCDA, while domestic consumption is expected to rise to 330,000 bags annually, it is the export market that remains as the key driver of growth.

The UCDA projects that total exports in this financial year will clock 6.53 million inching slightly up from 6.35 million the previous year.

“The increase reflects not just higher production, but also stronger demand from key global markets and relatively low stock levels encouraging fast turnover,” the authority explains.

As the government engages the private sector to start and expand value addition, currently, the bigger chunk of exports are in the form of raw green beans, with limited domestic processing.

“Uganda is targeting value-addition in future years through industrial development, but for now, the bulk of exports are unprocessed,” admits the UCDA report.

The authority also posted Uganda’s top three export destinations as of 2024 to be:

European Union: 193,169 metric tonnes (MT). Despite a slight decline, the EU remains by far Uganda’s largest market.

• United States: 19,142 MT. U.S. imports rebounded after previous years’ declines.
• Morocco: 16,502 MT, and raising and is Uganda’s largest market in North African.

The authority is confident that it’s market will only keep growing and as value addition commences, it’s list of importers will also grow and diversify.

Worth pointing out is the fact that, as of 2023, Uganda exported $990M of coffee, making it the 14th largest exporter of Coffee (out of 199) in the world, this according to the Uganda Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries.

This year, Uganda coffee export revenue rose to $1.97 billion in the 12 months to April 2025, up from $1.01 billion in the previous year. The said output growth is driven by higher global prices and strong domestic yields, the ministry explained.