Ugandan Coffee

African Tasty Coffee : How it is being Cultivated 

Ever wondered where African quality coffee comes from? 

Uganda is a  country in East Africa whose diverse landscape comprises the  snow-capped Rwenzori Mountains and immense Lake Victoria. This countryside is actually blessed with  abundant wildlife includes chimpanzees as well as rare birds.

The people of Uganda are known for their good works of farming and they make coffee production one of their specialty. Coffee production has always been accorded to the country Kenya due to their large production but over the years Uganda has been able to make a new record with her increased coffee production.

In the country of Uganda, coffee is currently their top export (with reference to 2018 records on Wikipedia) for the crops being produced. Uganda produces more than 2 million bags of coffee yearly. The increased production made them the Africa largest producers of coffee. This has gone a long way to contribute to their economic growth by improving her Gross Domestic product (GDP).

The citizens of Uganda prefers growing the varietal Robusta Coffee ; some diversifies and grows the Arabica Varietals. The arabica coffee is preferable grown in the north Eastern part of Uganda.

Due to the large production of coffee in the country,  the administrative office for control and regulation of sales and production of coffee (Uganda Coffee Development Authority) has stipulated various recognised regions of which coffee is meant to be grown in Uganda.

Care to know the regions of Coffee cultivation in Uganda? 

The regions for coffee cultivation are :

1. Western Region) Kasese mbarra also bordering Democratic Republic of Congo)

1. Central and Southwest(Jinja, Mokono, Kampala, musaka by lake Victoria)

1. Eastern ( Male, Bigusu bordering on Kenya)

1. Northern Region.

What farming processes are carried out to produce this high quality tasteful coffee? 

The Uganda Office for Coffee Development Authority has slated several considerables for proper cultivation of coffee in her country. The measures to be taken are:

1.   The practice before planting

A gently sloping land, that is fertile, well aerated with good structure and texture is selected. The land is cleared and clean of all tree stumps, roots and obnoxious weeds. Then the field is marked out using spacing of 3x3 meters for Robusta Coffee and 2.4 meters for Arabica Coffee or 10x10 feet for Robusta Coffee or 8x8 feet for Arabica Coffee. Three months before the planting, holes of 60cm are dug and manure added to the soil. When all these are set then we can begin planting and intercropping.

2. Planting

This forms the second most important activity to be done on the farmland but for expectation of high quality produce of tasty coffee. Planting is done with good seeds and after section 1 is satisfied. Planting should also be incorporated with interplanting for best performance.

3. Inter-cropping and Inter-planting in Young coffee

The process for inter-cropping requires skill and experience. New farmers are meant to learn from the experienced farmers on the intercropping of young coffee.  The Recommended inter crops are bananas and legumes eg. Soya beans, ground nuts and non-climbing phaseolus beans; Shade trees need to be with a wide canopy, leguminous, deep rooted, quick maturing, multipurpose, and without thorns.

In conclusion, tasty coffees as those produced in Uganda has series of steps that need to be followed before it can come out as the loving coffee you know.  The steps for the cultivation are designed to world class standard to enable the production of high quality tasty coffee for that unforgettable mouth watering experience.