Government to hire foreign coffee professionals to teach Ugandans how to drink coffee

Uganda Coffee Development Authority managing director, Emmanuel Iyamuremye has said that the government is set to hire foreign coffee and health professionals to teach Ugandans about the benefits of consuming coffee, according to a news report by The Observer.

Although Uganda is Africa’s largest coffee exporter, it earns less than Ethiopia in revenues per unit. This is because Ethiopia processes most of the coffee it produces and, although it sells most of it locally, it fetches more.

Iyamuremye said that the government is going to fly in experts to teach Ugandans the need to consume coffee. As more Ugandans demand more coffee, it will not only make farmers earn more from their coffee but also improve the processing process which will eventually earn more money for the country. It is not immediately clear how many or how the expatriates will teach Ugandans about the benefits of coffee drinking. 

Cleaned coffee, technically known as fair average quality costs between Shs 3,900 and Shs 4,200 a kilo, which is more than double the cost of uncleaned coffee beans locally called Kiboko. Meanwhile, a cup of coffee drink costs between Shs 3,000 and Shs 10,000 in a city coffee shop.

However, the coffee sector is finding it hard to make Ugandans, including coffee farmers themselves to adopt to coffee drinking because traditionally, Ugandans are consumers of tea while some think tea has more health benefits than coffee.