MAAIF launches training program to boost coffee growing in Acholi

GULU, UGANDA | THE INDEPENDENT | The Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) in partnership with the Operation Wealth Creation has embarked on a capacity building initiative aimed at enhancing coffee production in the Acholi Sub-region.

The program which commenced on Tuesday in Gulu city, Pader and Lamwo districts involves a strategic training of trainers intended to equip agricultural officers and lead farmers with practical knowledge and skills in coffee growing, marketing, post harvest handling and pest and disease control.

The training held in Gulu city at the Northern Uganda Diocese brought together agricultural officers, extension workers, local leaders, and coffee farmers from Gulu city, Nwoya, Omoro, Gulu and Amuru districts.

Sylvia Owori, the Director Operation Wealth Creation told Uganda Radio Network that the training which will be conducted routinely will help the farmers to continuously get support from agricultural specialists in coffee growing.

According to Owori, the training is part of a broader initiative the government has derived to improve the coffee production sector in the Acholi sub-region where demands for coffee seedlings are rising. She noted that in the past, some farmers received inputs but due to limited skills, they failed to follow the right procedures in coffee growing which ultimately affected their ventures.

Owori noted that whereas the government has embarked on popularizing coffee growing in the sub-region, in the few years to come, it plans to establishing processing facilities for value addition.

Owori said at the moment due to the high demand for coffee from farmers in Northern Uganda, the government has earmarked 5.5 billion shillings for 20 million coffee seedlings that are expected to be delivered to registered farmers in the sub-region this planting season. At least 10,000 farmers according to Owori will benefit from the government support.

Winnifred Janny Oyella, the Regional Agricultural Coffee Officer in the Coffee Department at MAAIF noted that over the last two years, the coffee seedling demands in Northern Uganda has been increasing sharply.

She noted that between 2021/22 Financial year, the demand in greater Northern Uganda stood at 24 million seedlings with 10 million seedlings being demanded in the mid north that comprises the Acholi and Lango Sub-regions. In the 2022/23 financial year, according to Oyella, demand for coffee seedlings in the two sub-regions of Lango and Acholi rose 15 million and anticipates the demand may further increase with the training of the trainers of trainers (ToT).

Oyella noted that the government is currently encouraging farmers to adopt clonal coffee which has higher yield that the elite coffee which the government had introduced on the region. The government embarked on the distribution of clonal coffee seedlings in 2021 through the former Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) and OWC.

Sarah Kataika, the Director for Policy and Planning at the OWC however appealed to farmers in the sub-region to start coffee growing on a scale they can manage with their financial resources.

“Don’t do too much at ago if you don’t have capacity. Put quarter an acre with manure, next season you add… Go slow but sure,” said Kataika.

She also encouraged the farmers to prioritize shade trees and irrigation to support coffee growing arguing that coffee doesn’t grow well in drought conditions.

In Acholi Sub-region alone, an estimated 5,000 acres of land is currently being used for coffee growing according to data from the OWC.

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