Uganda’s coffee exports face a tough huddle following demands that exports to the European Union come from registered farmers, the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) has said.

This will not only be a challenge to the authorities to have this met due to the nature of the country’s chain but also to the farmers, the majority of whom may not immediately meet the requirements for registration.

In addition to various sanitary requirements, UCDA says the EU has asked Uganda’s coffee subsector to have everyone along the value chain registered which would enable the market authorities to monitor the standards of the product.

Amelia Atukunda, Manager of Monitoring and Evaluation at the Uganda Coffee Development Authority said registration of all farmers has to be done by December next year, because the deadline given by the EU is January 2025 for all the coffee exports to be from registered farmers.

She termed this a matter of urgency because the EU takes most of Uganda’s coffee and the country can only abide by the market demands since even getting alternatives in the short run might be impossible.