Uganda coffee exports climb

Coffee exports from Uganda, Africa's second-biggest grower of the crop after Ethiopia, climbed 58 per cent in June because of a good new harvest amid high prices, according to the country's Coffee Development Authority. Shipments in the month rose to 370,924 60-kilogramme bags, from 234,956 bags a year earlier, an official who declined to be identified because he isn't authorised to speak for the authority said yesterday by phone from the capital, Kampala. Exports surpassed an earlier target of 265,000 bags and the 253,270 bags shipped in May because of good yields in the western and southern regions, the official said. Farmers in the southern and western regions are harvesting their main crop, while the central and eastern regions are picking a secondary crop whose yields are lower than usual, according to the agency. Exports in the 12 months through September may decline to 2.6 million bags, from an earlier forecast of 3.1 million bags, the authority said April 13. Some 2.67 million bags were shipped last season, according to the authority. Dry spell Article continues below East Africa's third-largest economy after Kenya and Tanzania experienced a dry spell from December to April, which the government blames on climate change. More than 95 per cent of Uganda's crop is grown by small-scale farmers whose plants are predominantly rain-fed, according to the authority.