UNIDO, World Coffee Research launch €850,000 drive to boost Uganda’s coffee seed systems
KAMPALA, April 13, 2026 — The United Nations Industrial Development Organization [ UNIDO ] and World Coffee Research [WCR] have announced a €850,000 co-investment to strengthen Uganda’s coffee seed systems, improve farmer livelihoods and support long-term sustainability.
The initiative, implemented under the Advancing Climate-Resilience and Transformation in African Coffee Programme [ACT], brings together a coalition of partners including the Lavazza Foundation, The J.M. Smucker Co. and JDE Peet’s, alongside funding from Italian Cooperation.
The three-year project aims to expand access to high-quality planting materials, creating new pathways for delivering improved coffee seedlings to farmers. The effort is expected to boost productivity and resilience across Uganda’s coffee sector, the largest exporter in Africa.
The programme aligns with Uganda’s national target of producing 20 million bags of coffee annually by 2030. However, farmers continue to face major challenges from diseases such as coffee wilt disease [CWD] in robusta, as well as coffee leaf rust and coffee berry disease in arabica varieties. Research indicates that adopting CWD-resistant varieties can increase smallholder profits by up to 250 per cent, helping secure livelihoods and sustain the value chain.
The initiative builds on a recently launched roadmap for priority investment in coffee research and development [R&D] and seed systems, led by the National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO) and the National Coffee Research Institute [NaCORI] in collaboration with WCR.
Under the programme, partners will focus on strengthening Uganda’s seed system infrastructure through several key interventions. These include expanding access to resilient coffee varieties by establishing robusta mother gardens and nurseries across northern, central and western regions. The facilities are expected to produce up to 460,000 high-yielding, CWD-resistant robusta trees annually, including the use of grafting onto liberica rootstock to improve drought tolerance in northern Uganda.
Efforts will also be made to ensure genetic purity by genotyping more than 5,000 robusta mother plants, giving farmers confidence in the performance and resilience of new planting materials.
In addition, the project will strengthen local capacity through collaboration with government agencies, including the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, to train technicians in quality assurance and advanced propagation techniques. This will include international training at leading centres such as Cenicafé in Colombia.
Demonstration plots for improved robusta lines and advanced arabica hybrids will also be established to showcase performance and encourage farmer adoption.
The public-private partnership builds on years of work by WCR in Uganda aimed at improving farmer access to quality planting materials and securing future coffee supply.
Andrea De Marco, UNIDO Programme Manager and Partnership Advisor, said the initiative highlights the power of collaboration in unlocking Uganda’s coffee potential.
“Through the ACT Coffee Programme, UNIDO is working to ensure that innovations in seed systems and climate-resilient varieties reach the smallholder farmers who need them most, laying the foundation for a productive, sustainable and equitable coffee sector,” he said.
Veronica Rossi of the Lavazza Foundation said the project reflects a long-term commitment to supporting coffee-growing communities through science and innovation.
“Investing in seed systems means empowering farmers with high-quality, resilient planting material and contributing to a more sustainable future for the coffee sector,” she said.
Dr Jennifer “Vern” Long, Chief Executive of World Coffee Research, said the initiative demonstrates the importance of collective action in addressing global challenges facing the coffee industry.
“This commitment by WCR member companies, alongside UNIDO, validates the power of collaboration to de-risk key coffee-producing regions and secure the future of quality supply,” she said.
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