MAAIF orders coffee value chain actors to renew licences by September 30
In a notice to coffee value chain actors, the ministry urged operators to begin the renewal process immediately to ensure continuity of licensed operations from October 1, 2026
KAMPALA, September 23, 2026 — The Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries [MAAIF] has directed coffee value chain actors in Uganda to renew their trading, processing and related licences and certificates before the current licences expire on September 30, 2026.
In a notice to coffee value chain actors, the ministry urged operators to begin the renewal process immediately to ensure continuity of licensed operations from October 1, 2026.
The licences cover coffee pulper/wet mill operators, buyers, roasters, brewers/coffee shops, warehouse or store operators, huller operators, graders and exporters.
Uganda’s coffee industry involves a wide network of actors, with approximately 99 percent of the country’s coffee produced by about 1.8 million smallholder farmers. The coffee moves through a multi-stage value chain involving farmers, traders and intermediaries, farmer groups and cooperatives, brokers, exporters and roasters.
Other supporting actors, who may not take ownership of the coffee but provide essential services, include input suppliers, research organisations, seedling suppliers, equipment providers, extension agents, transport and warehousing companies, financial institutions, certification bodies and government agencies.
The licensing requirements therefore affect key stages of the chain, from processing and aggregation to storage, grading and export.
After harvesting, particularly in the case of Robusta, farmers typically dry their coffee cherries in their yards before selling them to middlemen. The middlemen aggregate coffee from several farmers and sell it to larger traders, who transport it to hulling factories for processing into green beans. The green beans are then transported to Kampala for sale to exporters. This dry-processing method produces natural Robusta coffee.
For Arabica, a smaller proportion of farmers wet-process their fresh cherries soon after harvesting. The coffee is dried to produce parchment, which is then sold to middlemen who may pass it on to larger traders for milling into green beans or, in some cases, sell it directly to cooperatives. Both Robusta and Arabica farmers may also sell fresh cherries to middlemen when they need immediate cash.
Uganda has 20 wet-processing stations for Arabica coffee and 912 hulling factories for Robusta coffee. These facilities provide an important first stage of value addition by transforming coffee cherries into green beans.
After processing, farmers may sell their coffee to traders or, where they are cooperative members, through their cooperatives. Cooperatives can provide farmers with access to markets and services, although only an estimated 10–25 percent of farmers are members, partly because of distrust arising from historical management problems in some cooperatives.
Cooperatives may sell coffee through unions that aggregate coffee from several cooperatives, although this is less common because of the limited number of unions, or sell directly to exporters, which is the more common arrangement.
Exporters undertake final processing activities, including sorting, cleaning, grading and packaging, before the coffee is shipped to international markets.
According to the MAAIF notice, pulper/wet mill operators, coffee buyers, roasters, brewers/coffee shops and coffee warehouse/store operators will each pay an annual licence fee of Shs 50,000.
Coffee huller operators will pay Shs 100,000 per huller, while coffee graders and exporters will each pay Shs 1.5 million annually. The exporter fee also includes a US$ 25,000 performance bond valid for 13 calendar months, according to the notice.
The ministry said coffee nurseries are also required to renew their licences, but the renewal will be free of charge. The measure is intended to support the production and supply of viable and quality coffee planting materials.
MAAIF said operators seeking renewal should first generate a Payment Registration Number [PRN] through the Uganda Revenue Authority [URA] website under the applicable coffee licence or fee category.
They are then required to make the prescribed payment through a bank or mobile money before submitting proof of payment to the Regional Agricultural Engineer for processing of the relevant licence or certificate.
The ministry cautioned coffee operators against waiting until the expiry date, saying early renewal would allow sufficient time for processing and help avoid interruptions to coffee trading, processing and export activities.
https://thecooperator.news/low-coffee-and-cocoa-prices-shouldnt-worry-farmers-tumwebaze/
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