COFFEE: Gov’t plans to establish nursery beds in northern Uganda

Gulu, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The government is considering plans to establish coffee nursery beds in key districts across Northern Uganda as part of a broader strategy to boost coffee production and diversify farmers’ incomes. State Minister for Northern Uganda Rehabilitation, Dr. Kenneth Omona, told Uganda Radio Network in an interview that the initiative, once implemented, is expected to improve access to high-quality coffee seedlings for the growing population of coffee farmers in the region. Omona said once the nursery beds are established, the government intends to work with the leadership of the respective areas to identify active farmers to be trained to help others adopt better coffee plant skills.

Although he didn’t reveal when the implementation will commence and the key districts that will host the nursery beds, Omona said the government is very committed to working with the local population in Northern Uganda to build a coffee value chain.

He noted that the government is intentional with its program of promoting coffee as a perennial crop in the region to boost the incomes of farmers who have for years been relying on low-yielding annual crops.

To coffee farmers like John Lakony who owns three acres of coffee in Lalar Parish, the plan to have coffee nursery beds in every district is a welcomed move given the limited numbers of local nursery bed operators.

Lakony said many farmers like him struggle to access quality coffee within Nwoya and other neighbouring districts in Acholi which limits their efforts to expand their coffee farms or even join the coffee growing sector.

“We don’t have many coffee nursery beds here in Nwoya which is a challenge to us. We also incur high expenses in buying and transporting seedlings to farms from far and having one near would help a lot,” Lakony told URN on Saturday. A seedling of clonal Robusta coffee costs between 1,500 shillings to 2,000 shillings according to Lakony, an amount not very affordable for ordinary farmers.

Alfred Ojok, a coffee seedling breeder in Paminyai Sub-county in Nwoya district told URN that while he owns a nursery bed, the coffee seedlings he produces don’t meet the demands of the farmers.

Ojok says he is overwhelmed by the demands for coffee seedlings from farmers due to the few coffee breeders in the district and lauded the government for the proposals to establish coffee nursery beds.

Currently, Ojok has 150,000 coffee seedlings that can be planted on more than 300 acres of land.

Ojok however suggested that the government should also consider empowering already established nursery bed operators in the region to strengthen their capacity in supplying coffee seedlings.

The government identified Northern Uganda, traditionally known for growing cassava, cotton, sorghum, and millet, among others as a potential area that could help the country meet its target of producing 20 million bags of coffee annually by 2030.

According to a 2024 report from the now-rationalized Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA), 127,184 households were engaged in coffee growing in the region and produced up to 962,278 60-kilogram bags of coffee beans annually.

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