The General Manager of Budadiri Arabic Coffee Miller Wagisha Julius has revealed that the coming of Uganda Development Cooperation (UDC)as part of the share holders saved the Union from from monopoly of Uganda Coffee Marking Board which had become a problem when it came to market prices, Spyreports has learnt. The Coffee Union is based in Budadiri in Sironko District.
During an exclusive interview with Spyreports,he said Uganda Coffee Marking Board had become a problem to farmers because they would buy coffee at a cheaper price. “On top of selling our coffee at a cheaper price, farmers would even move a long distance from Budadiri to Mbale with poor means of transport,” he says.
He added that God heard their prayers and brought UDC on board in 2020. “We had loan which came as a result of low prices from our coffee but we thank UDC which came for our rescue,” He revealed adding that UDC paid their loan which they had obtained from Uganda Development Bank and was worth Shs 4.12bn.
He says UDC was given 32% of their shares. “After teaming up with UDC, we became independent and started buying their coffee from farmers and started selling it higher prices,” he sounds adding that they never went to Mbale. “With the help of UDC, we can now buy our coffee, process it and export it by our selves and get more money,” Wagisha explains adding that they export to Denmark and Dubai. He says their production factory is centered in the middle of coffee growing areas.
“Farmers do not need to transport their coffee any more because we are located in their midst. From their gardens they come straight to the factory,” He narrates. Wagisha
says the community also got employed since the production was brought at home. “Ever since the factory came here, we have employed more than 300 people both skilled and unskilled,” he told us. He further says farmers have started other businesses from coffee earnings.
He says that despite some good improvements after UDC coming on board, they still have some challenges that include drying coffee because of mountainous in nature. “Our area is mountainous in nature and we find it difficult to dry our coffee and so we need a coffee dryer which is a bit expensive,” he reveals.
He added that farmers still produce poor quality coffee because of less Sunshine. He further explained that they still have a challenge of Price since most buyers come from abroad. He revealed that in the next future five years they are looking to start manufacturing coffee which is used in tea.
