KAMPALA- Zigoti Coffee Company has on Thursday, July, 25 appeared before the committee on Agriculture to provide the committee with their insights on the proposed National Coffee Bill.
The company said it is very okay with this Bill as it will boost Coffee companies.
This bill is a new law proposed by the government of Uganda that seeks to regulate the growing and sale of coffee.
It is being drafted under the National Coffee Bill, 2018, which is aimed at maintaining quality in the coffee sector that is Uganda’ biggest foreign exchange earner.
Parliament through the Agriculture committee started the process of handling the Bill, such as seeking the public views about it.
Today, the committee chaired by the MP Adjumani East County, Hon. Okori- Moi Janat has met officials from Zigoti to give their view about the Bill.
Mr. Kisekka George from Zigoti has said that Zigoti Coffee Company welcomes the proposed National coffee bill, 2018 in its totality.
“The bill is important because the coffee sector has been poorly managed in the past,” he said.
The National Coffee Bill is intended to replace the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) Act 1991, which was only limited to covering the marketing and processing stages of coffee.
In drafting the Bill, the government was concerned by the continued compromising of quality of coffee by farmers through harvesting raw beans instead of ripe ones and poor drying, which led to Uganda’s coffee losing market internationally.
“There is a need to regulate the coffee value chain as is done in other jurisdictions, especially to include the on-farm activities, alongside the off-farm ones in regard to the generation of planting materials, harvesting and drying of coffee, to improve on the quality of coffee that goes to both the local and international market,” the Bill States.
The regulator of the sector, according to the Bill, will be Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA), which will register all coffee farmers for purposes of monitoring and regulation.
UCDA will then supervise the land on which the farmer intends to grow coffee to assess it.
Government target on coffee production is to export 20 million bags by 2025.
