Uganda's national coffee bill was proposed in 2018, but up to now, there has been much controversy from coffee industry stakeholders.
The National Union of Agricultural Enterprises and Coffee Farms (NUCAFE), which connects coffee farmers across the country, has made three key proposals on regulatory and development, tax reduction and urged the Ugandan government to improve its coffee research, according to ERNEST JJINGO.
Farmers in the NUCAFE organization welcomed the draft national coffee law 2018. On August 1, 2019, NUCAFE submitted the bill to the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture after conducting a national consultation with farmers grow coffee from domestic coffee growing regions.
Former finance minister Gerald Ssendaula, president of NUCAFE, told The Observer that they support the introduction of the bill to the government to run the crop because coffee quality needs to be improved.
Proposals submitted by NUCAFE to parliament include the establishment of a Coffee Regulatory Authority in Uganda to regulate coffee production and production in the country.
Currently, the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) is playing both regulatory and facility development roles, avoiding creating conflicts of interest and damaging the performance of the unit.
“The current laws recognize UCDA as a growing body. So let the new law focus on regulation. There must be a governing body through which the government can work and provide. extension services, “said Ssendaula.
He added that the government spends a lot of money to provide seedlings every year, but among them are poor quality seedlings with low survival rates and therefore, need to have authority to monitor the activities of the The bureau is developing and regulating the entire coffee chain.
Joseph Nkandu, NUCAFE's executive director, said they wanted to emphasize the importance of a management system free of conflicts of interest and therefore called for another agency to act as a regulator instead of one. The only regulator that adjusts the whole value chain and is also the developer.
NUCAFE also objected to the increase in taxes imposed by the government on export coffee in the bill. This tax ranges from 1-2% depending on the amount of export. NUCAFE says that exporters pay taxes to farmers who eventually receive less money without having to pay taxes. Therefore, the tax increase will not encourage farmers to produce and increase the value for coffee.
Mr. Ssendaula said that they proposed tax rates to become part of the annual national budget and not exceed 1% to support global coffee prices, especially in the current state of falling prices.
Coffee farmers continue to call on the committee to stop introducing the auction method as a way to sell coffee. They want to keep the direct sales system for any buyer around the world.
They say that auctions tend to keep buyers 'groups at low asking prices, thereby reducing farmers' income in neighboring countries Kenya and Tanzania, where coffee production declines among last year due to auction.
Therefore, coffee growers have proposed to maintain the current sales system and request assistance for joint marketing, developing export trade skills and building a capital base to participate in coffee export. .
Mr. Ssendaula continued to address the controversial parts of the bill, requiring all coffee farmers to register as NUCAFE coffee farmers and support farmers at all levels of registration. because the bill does not require a license like for some individuals.
“Registering is a must for us to have a traceability, making it easy for people to get coffee buyers. People who need a license are people who want to trade coffee, but not farmers.” “, Ssendaula said.
Ssendaula also called on the government to increase coffee-related research because the lack of effective research has depleted the country's budget. Typically, in 1993, the Ugandan coffee industry had difficulty coping with wilt.
It took nearly 8 years to find alternative varieties and on this basis, NUCAFE believes that there needs to be a huge investment in research so that new varieties of coffee can meet whenever there is a need.
