Museveni backs European Union ban of coffee linked to deforestation

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has expressed support for the European Union’s regulations aimed at only accepting coffee exports from registered farmers and those grown on non-deforested lands. Recently, the European Parliament approved a landmark deforestation law banning imports into the European Union of coffee, beef, soy, and other commodities if they are linked to the destruction of the world’s forests.

This move, set to take effect in 2025, demands verifiable proof that goods weren’t produced on deforested land post-2020 to avoid substantial fines, aimed at combatting climate change. Speaking about the said regulations, which will also include taking coffee exports from Uganda’s registered coffee farmers, Museveni said this time round he will agree with the European Union for the first time. Museveni revealed that by coming up with the said regulations, the EU  will have helped him in the fight against deforestation.

According to data from the online forest tracking portal Global Forest Watch, Uganda has seen an increase in deforestation in the last decade. Records released in 2021 show that while in 2001, the country lost 297 km2 of forest, by 2020 the figure had more than doubled (736 km2 of forest lost in a single year). As such, Museveni says it is criminal to encroach on wetlands for manmade activities. He said they will deal with the encroachers but at the right time but they need to listen.

Museveni explained that when they had just returned from the bush, they found when people had encroached on the entire Mabira forest but they chased them. He welcomed what he described as good pressure from the European Union. Museveni made the remarks on Friday night while responding to questions raised by Our Reporter in his Engagement with the Media in State House Entebbe regarding his position on the European Union regulations.

At least 60 percent of Uganda’s coffee exports go to the European Market. Museveni answered several questions from journalists including concerns about multiple land titles issued on one land and continued detention of political prisoners without trial. He said that he would soon issue an executive order chasing soldiers from land matters because they are supposed to be fighting from the bush, not in land matters. He, however, said that he hadn’t gotten sufficient time to issue that Executive Order.

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