Uganda tourism and agricultural officials are making plans to promote coffee tourism in a bid to increase revenue from both sectors.
Officials told reporters on Tuesday that coffee farmers will be linked to consumers under a farm-to-cup approach, with consumers touring farms and sharing their experience with the farmers.
The feedback from the tourists aids in increased production of high quality coffee and hence boosts returns.
“Bringing consumers to the farms and ensuring they have all the amenities they need in terms of transport, accommodation and on-farm experiences will also encourage incremental earnings as farmers and those in the hospitality and tourism industries gain prominence due to global exposure,” said Stephen Asiimwe, the Chief Executive of Uganda Tourism Board, a state agency charged with promotion of tourism.
The officials said to boost the coffee tourism strategy, the country has organized the first ever Coffee and Tourism Symposium and Exposition scheduled for early next month.
“Coffee and tourism are some of the biggest contributors to Uganda’s GDP. Secondly where there’s tourism attraction, coffee grows. It is from this that we have been motivated to organize this symposium,” said Joan Kantu Else, chief executive of Coffee Tourism Uganda.
Through the Coffee Roadmap, the Ugandan government aims to increase coffee exports from the current 4.6 million bags (60 kg per bag) a year to 20 million bags by 2025.
However, while the country is considered a major coffee supplier on the world stage, Uganda’s coffee does not feature in the world’s 15 top value earning coffee exporting countries, according to experts.
“Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) is determined to move Uganda’s position from just a top African producer to a top global exporter of premium coffee,” said Emmanuel Iyamulemye, UCDA managing director.
“We believe that partnering with the tourism fraternity in this symposium, will enable us to achieve this target sooner rather than later,” he added.
Uganda earns over 1.4 billion U.S. dollars annually from tourism. Enditem
