Coffee Value Chain: A Comparative Study on the Profitability of Organic & Conventional Coffee Value Chain in Uganda

Coffee is the world’s most valuable tropical export crop with an annual retail value of approximately US $90 billion and a vital source of foreign exchange earnings for Eastern and Central Africa countries.  Uganda is the second largest producer of coffee in Africa with over half a million households depending on coffee for livelihood.

In Uganda, coffee is grown by smallholder farmers as a monocrop or an intercrop with mainly banana, other traditional food crops and shade trees. Coffee – banana intercropping is common in densely populated areas, and usually grown with shade on the lower slopes and without shade on the highest slopes.

This study reviewed the coffee value chain in Uganda, with major focus on the Profitability of Organic and Conventional Coffee Value Chain. The study established the socio-economic characteristics and gender aspects of coffee producing farmers, the role of state and non-state actors along the coffee value chain, the Gross Margin of organic and conventional coffee production, the financial sustainability of the value chain structure and the financial position of export diversification in organic coffee production.

The overarching goal of the study was to ultimately attract more investments in organic coffee subsector in Uganda as well as supporting evidence-based advocacy activities for the implementation of the National Organic Agriculture Policy (NOAP) 2019 and investments in the organic subsector in general.