Uganda’s coffee export earnings for the month of May declined by 13 percent from those of March, Bank of Uganda (BoU) statistics shows.
BoU’s export performance report for the month of May shows that Uganda exported coffee worth $47.1 million (Shs167bn), down from $53.5m (Shs189b) earned in March.
“This saw the country earn $6.4 million (Shs22b) revenue less than what was earned in March when the country’s monthly receipts hit the peak ever,” the report shows.
This is similar to April 2020 when Uganda’s earnings from exports declined by 34.3% compared to March 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic disrupted businesses and several supply chains.
According to the BoU report, in May 2021, the country exported a total of 429,374 bags of Robusta coffee valued at $37.57m (Shs133b). While Arabica coffee exports in May were 64,676 bags worth $9.63m (Shs34b).
But Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) attributed the decline to being an off season and expects the exports to grow again during June, July and August.
UCDA executive director Emmanuel Iyamulemye is concerned that the second wave lockdown may have impact on the export volumes.
“This is happening at the already fuelling scarcity of containers for the transportation of the coffee from Mombasa to the destination,” Lyamulemye says.
The Bank of Uganda report shows that gold, coffee, fish and fish products, sugar, tea and maize were some of the most exported commodities in the 2020 Covid-19 lockdown.