By Edribe Benesa
Behind the impenetrable walls of State House, State Lodges and state farms in Kisozi and everywhere else, the air buzzed, tables were banged, strategists quizzed and arms twisted as the clock ticked. The president’s word was one: Done with UCDA as was his publicly communicated stance through various statements he wrote. His detractors, on the other hand, were also determined to block the way at any cost.
Whether these really believed in what they preached or just wanted to reap from an opportunity to gain some political resurrection as Kassandra County MP, David Kabanda asserted in one media interview, will be a topic for a later discussion. Having made his determination to disable the less efficient, big quid-consuming UCDA known, he invited his troops to Gomba, most probably, for consensus building as Zaake and company got themselves ready for first fights as Parliament prepared to decide on the matter.
Regardless of who you listen to, UCDA has neither been angelic, nor demonic but a * z z. combination of both. Maybe the debate wouldn’t even have reached that crescendo had the Speaker of Parliament not been played through AI to appear to be on a live mic urging her colleagues to do something about the Baganda. Whatever, they intended, their plot seemed to work especially to the significant portion of Ugandans without the capacity to discern propaganda from reality.
As you may already know, 50% of the coffee grown in Uganda is from Buganda, a source of livelihood for almost every household in the region. Many kids in Buganda go to school because of the income derived from coffee by their parents and guardians. Coffee and of recent enjoys an unrivalled status among the people of Buganda. This, however, doesn’t mean this is the only region that’s reliant on the bean cash crop.
In Eastern, Uganda, the Bugisu sub-region has been more reliant on the crop, perhaps even beating Buganda in as far as the percentage participation in coffee growing is concerned. With the current government efforts in promoting diversification in agriculture, there have been enhanced calls for the rest of the areas to ditch economically less productive crops in favour of big quid promoters like coffee. This was, areas like Busoga, Bukedi, and Bunyoro could be seen embarking on the cash crop with enhanced strategic planning now that the government has taken full control of management.
It hasn’t been like that though for the last few years before the coming of the NRM government. Many people in Buganda had given up on growing coffee until about 2016 when the government started its poverty eradication plan dubbed “Bonna Bagaggawale.” Under the efficient tutelage of the president’s incorruptible brother, General Caleb Akandwanaho, with the help of Buganda Kingdom’s “Emmwanyi Terimba” (coffee is profitable) campaign reminding people of the good old days of Mmwanyi Zabaala (another variant of coffee is profitable) the outcome has been there for everyone to see.
As for whether or not UCDA solely worked to contribute to the current blossom in the coffee industry, I have this to say: Farming is usually not for the fainthearted and prices can significantly fluctuate especially for a product that is largely exported. Prices are many times determined on global markets. Weather changes in Brazil, Colombia or Vietnam, for example, can have a significant impact on Uganda’s coffee. And domestic demands in those larger producer markets can also have an impact. Speculators on the futures markets in the global financial capital can also have an impact.
But also, people can simply give up on something by losing hope. Leadership is usually required to restore hope, reminding people that those who “lose a loved one, don’t sleep by the graveside.”
There is an unaddressed need to encourage all the young men and women who have deserted their ancestral homes with nutrient-rich farms to ride motorcycles in towns, to consider retreating to grow coffee and other profitable cash crops which will only not improve their situation but also boost the country’s economy. Once people are inspired to realize that not every light at the end of the tunnel is of an oncoming train, they can easily wake up and do something for themselves.
That is what happened in Buganda with the 2016 Operation Wealth Creation and Katikkiro Peter Mayiga’s Emmwanyi Terimba efforts. With inspiration from the leadership in the above interventions, people in the region started growing coffee again. Seeing the uptake in the crop, UCDA sought for a partnership to work together. The end result was increased exports and increased incomes for the people in the region and indeed elsewhere.
Alongside planting new crops, those who had abandoned their trees didn’t all have to start afresh. Many just did stumping, allowing the coffee to sprout and flourish again. Others planted new ones. Within 2-4 years, they were making money again.
I can dream of a trip to Buyende or Namayingo, four years from now to meet a man who tells his story that he had been a boda boda rider in Kampala and had decided to return to the village. The with support from the Ministry of Agriculture, he revived his coffee garden and has managed to build himself a decent house and rentals somewhere in in Jinja or Gulu or even Kampala and sent his children to good schools without any struggles. That should be everyone’s focus now while aspiring to support the government in any way we can to realize to goal of a more vibrant, more productive coffee industry.
That kilo of coffee now averages shs 13000 today, there is real income in the pockets of ordinary Ugandans and there will be more indeed. And not just ordinary Ugandans, the country will equally benefit as well as income from coffee exports topping over USD500m per month.
Regardless of what the detractors do to disrupt the government of Uganda, coffee will remain a highly demanded crop across the world. The biggest consumers of coffee in the world don’t grow it and they are not about to give it up. They will continue to demand for it. The traders and the entire value chain are not about to give up coffee.
Since the demand is assured, those who are growing coffee should not return to the previous years of feeling pity for themselves. They should instead increase the acreage of those who can, look after their coffee trees well and do whatever is necessary to increase the production of quality beans. Those who won’t give up, regardless of the prices or scrapping of UCDA would still be better than a farmer who doesn’t have anything to sell.
What’s is necessary now is an enhanced zeal to call more farmers into the trade, and now that MAAIF is fully in charge. We are all watching, hopeful this time too, as has often been, the vision of the Fountain of Honor won’t be failed by incompetence.
The Writer is the Deputy Resident City Commissioner for Nakawa Division, Kampala.
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