Uganda’s earnings from coffee exports fell by 9.4% in the 2025/26 coffee year, as lower shipments and increased supplies from Brazil and Vietnam put pressure on international prices.
The country exported eight million 60-kilogramme bags of coffee worth $2.1 billion (Shs7.6 trillion) between October 2025 and September 2026, compared with 8.2 million bags valued at $2.2 billion (Shs8.4 trillion) in the previous year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries.
This represents a 3.4% fall in export volumes and a 9.4% decline in earnings, despite Uganda maintaining its position as Africa’s leading coffee exporter.
The ministry attributed the reduction in shipments to lower production during the main harvesting season in Greater Masaka and the South Western region, two of the country's major coffee-growing areas.
It said increased supplies from Brazil and Vietnam, among the world's largest coffee producers, had also contributed to the decline in export values by putting pressure on international prices.
Uganda sells its coffee to markets across Africa, Europe and Asia, with Robusta coffee accounting for 85% of the total exports. Sudan, India, Germany and Switzerland are among its destinations, with the largest export volumes.
Other markets include Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Kenya, Tunisia, South Africa, Nigeria and Malawi.
The wide range of destinations provides Uganda with access to different markets, although the country's export earnings remain vulnerable to changes in global prices and demand.
Interestingly, the pressure on prices is expected to continue as global coffee production increases. The United States Department of Agriculture forecasts that production will reach a record 189.7 million bags in the 2026/27 marketing year, an increase of 10.8 million bags from the previous season.
Higher output in Brazil, Ethiopia and Vietnam is expected to offset declines in India and Indonesia. Global exports are forecast to rise to a record 131.4 million bags, while consumption is expected to reach 179.7 million bags, according to the USDA's July 2026 report.
The increase in global supply comes as several African coffee-producing countries report higher export earnings.
Ethiopia earned about $3.13 billion from coffee exports in its 2025/26 fiscal year, compared with $2.65 billion in the previous year. The country exported approximately 440,000 tonnes, according to the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority.
In Kenya, farmers earned about $321 million (KSh41.63 billion) from coffee sales through the Nairobi Coffee Exchange in the 2025/26 coffee year, up from about $274 million (KSh35.6 billion) a year earlier.
Rwanda also recorded an increase in coffee earnings. Its exports generated more than $148.6 million in 2025, a 65% rise from the previous year, as volumes increased by 39% to 23,860 tonnes.
Tanzania's coffee exports earned $389.6 million in the year to March 2026, compared with $331.1 million in the previous year, according to the Bank of Tanzania.
Uganda has spent years trying to increase coffee production through the distribution of seedlings and programmes aimed at encouraging farmers to replace old trees with higher-yielding varieties.
Since 2012, the agriculture ministry, working through the Uganda Coffee Development Authority and the National Agricultural Advisory Services, has distributed millions of coffee seedlings to farmers across the country's 98 coffee-growing districts.
The government expanded these efforts through Operation Wealth Creation, launched in 2013 to improve household incomes, reduce poverty and support economic transformation.
But farmers continue to face challenges, including unpredictable weather, low use of fertilisers, limited access to agricultural extension services and low yields.
The latest export figures highlight the challenge facing Uganda: increasing production while improving the productivity of existing coffee farms.
