National Coffee Act inspires debate on new laws on registration of farmers
UGANDA – The Executive Director, Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA), Dr Emmanuel Lyamulemye, has revealed that Clause 26 of the National Coffee Act has inspired debates on a new law on farmers’ registration.
This comes after President Museveni assented to the National Coffee Act (NCA) August 13th, 2021 & September 13th, 2021.
It was later gazzeted under Supplement Act No. 17 changing to a new face of the coffee sector in Uganda.
This was during the virtual seminar organized by Uganda Agricultural Economics Association (UAEA) convened by the Department of Agribusiness and Natural Resource Economics, Makerere University.
According to Associate Prof. Jackline Bonabana, the seminar which was themed, “How the National Coffee Act 2021 is envisioned to transform the Ugandan Coffee Industry” was focused on making an analysis on gaps and gains entrenched within the new coffee law.
Lyamulemye said, the president first bounced the new law in December 2020 to make some reviews on some of the specific clauses such as the appointment of the board, registration of coffee farmers and the appointment of UCDA’s Managing Director.
Lyamulumye who could not hide the joy for the achievement he has attained for the authority, welcomed the new law saying that the National Coffee Act 2021 will repeal and replace 1991 UCDA Act which had clauses that had been over taken by events.
“I am very privileged to be presenting to you this important law in the history of Uganda but I must say this is one of the most debated bills in the recent times because in August it was approved by parliament and it went to the president to assent but in December, it was returned for review of some specific clauses,” Lyamulumye explained.
He says, the new law alludes to neighboring countries that established a National Coffee Registry for farmers and other value chain actors for the protection of the quality and standards of coffee in the export market and to increase coffee prices that benefit a farmer.
“All our neighboring countries have a farmer registry, and for the case of Kenya, their National Coffee Act of 2001 is very comprehensive on farmers’ registration. Tanzania’s coffee law of 2003 talks about farmers registration; in Ethiopia, their law which takes us back to 1994 also talks about farmers registration. So, in order to ensure quality, this is one of the clauses we thought of harmonizing our laws with other coffee producers.” Lyamulemye emphasized.
Lyamulemye confirmed that farmer registration will be free of charge to any farmer who grows coffee for the inspirations of coffee farmers’ traceability.
“A person shall be registered only if at the time of registration, he is growing coffee. I would like to stress that there will be no fees to be charged on registration of farmers and no consequential financial obligations whether taxation or indirect cash payments,” said Lyamulemye
He adds that the new law provides for the continuity of UCDA as a regulator in the coffee sub-sector.
“The 2021 National Coffee Act also provides the regulation of all, on and off farm activities in the coffee value chain, registration of coffee value chain actors, grading of coffee, coffee value addition and domestic coffee consumption among others,” explained Lyamulumye.
“The Coffee Act enacted in 1991 looked at pre-export but over time it was seen that coffee quality is actually affected from the farm, a reason as to why the National Coffee Act 2021 is looking at the comprehensive value chain starting from the farm including export and also consumption of coffee,” Lyamulemye explained.
Speaking during the discussion, Martin Fowler, an Agriculture Economist expressed worry to the farmers’ confidential data provided to UCDA.
“The whole confidentiality of this data to me is a worrying aspect, like who is going to have access to this data? I think we need to be a little bit careful about the use of this data because some farmers providing information need to know that it’s going to be used by UCDA alone but not to be used for other things,” Fowler said.
He adds that Clause 32 of the Coffee Act does not specify how often the farmers will register for coffee dealers’ licenses.
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“The issue of registration goes on to licensing and I know some of these have already got licenses and others are going to be licensed but the law is not clear how often; whether its annual or life time registration,” Fowler emphasized.
Joseph Nkandu, Executive Director, National Union of Coffee Agribusiness (NUCAFE), also embraced the enabling law claiming that it has been overdue to guarantee coffee quality in Uganda.
He however, encouraged UCDA to work with the private sector and other agencies for effective implementation of the amended National Coffee Act 2021.
“We need to ensure that we take a systematic change in our approach, so that we are able to achieve what we want. What will be most important at the end is implementation which cannot only be done by one entity,” Nkandu advised
UCDA is a government agency mandated to promote and oversee the development of the entire coffee industry through research, quality assurance and improved marketing.
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