Coffee exports from Uganda, Africa’s largest exporter of the commodity, surged 17.2% in July thanks to the easing of coronavirus restrictions, Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA).
Uganda shipped 543,251 60-kilogram bags of coffee in July, up from 463,709 bags exported in the same month last year.
It is the highest amount of coffee exported in a month since 1991, according to sector regulator.
UCDA said there was “increased production on account of the fruition of the newly planted coffee trees and favourable weather."
Traders also released higher stocks after authorities started easing some of the anti-coronavirus restrictions, the regulator added.
Uganda strengthened its position as Africa’s largest coffee exporter with a record volume of 5.06 million bags in the financial year that ended on June 30, the ministry of finance figures show.
Export earnings also reached an all-time new level of the U.S $494 million as compared to the U.S $416 in the Financial Year 2018/19
The ministry said the year 2020 could see Uganda, already Africa’s largest coffee exporter, overtaking Ethiopia as the continent’s largest coffee producer.
The Uganda Coffee Roadmap, which is in tandem with the President's directive 2014, aims to accelerate coffee production from the then 3.5 million 60kg bags to 20 million bags of green coffee by the year 2025.
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