MAAIF warns Acholi farmers against poor-quality coffee seedlings

GULU CITY, May 4, 2025 – The Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries [MAAIF] has issued a warning to new coffee farmers in the Acholi Sub-region about the risks of planting poor-quality coffee seedlings being supplied by unscrupulous nursery operators.

Winnie Oyella, a Regional Agricultural Officer with MAAIF based in Gulu City, said that unqualified nursery operators are exploiting the growing demand for coffee seedlings.

Speaking on Wednesday at a two-day “trainer of trainers” workshop for coffee stakeholders from the West Acholi Sub-region—organised by the Operation Wealth Creation [OWC] Secretariat, Oyella highlighted the problem.

She noted that the situation was worsened by a lapse in oversight during a recent restructuring process, which saw some staff from the Uganda Coffee Development Authority [UCDA] transferred to MAAIF following the recent rationalisation of several government agencies.

“People went wild after learning that the demand for coffee seedlings was high, and that the government had stopped providing free seedlings,” Oyella said. “They began setting up nurseries that were not properly supervised. We are concerned that some of these seedlings may be substandard, which could pose long-term challenges to farmers.”

To address this issue, MAAIF, in collaboration with Operation Wealth Creation, has certified 30 nursery operators in the Acholi Sub-region to supply farmers with quality-assured seedlings, according to Oyella.

Meanwhile, Sylvia Owori, Director of Operations at OWC, announced during the workshop that the government had discontinued the use of elite Robusta coffee seedlings due to their vulnerability to coffee wilt disease.

“Government will now supply only Clonal Robusta coffee seedlings because they offer greater resistance to coffee wilt disease,” Owori stated. “If we continue using Clonal Robusta seedlings, we will be better positioned to meet our goal of producing 20 million 60-kg bags of coffee annually by 2030.”

Owori also pointed out that farmers in the region stand to earn up to USD 1.6 billion per year if they adopt the high-yielding Clonal Robusta variety.

https://thecooperator.news/amuru-district-seeks-over-855000-coffee-seedlings-for-farmers/

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