Uganda Coffee Development Authority in partnership with African Fine Coffees Association (AFCA) will provide specialty coffee training in preparation for the annual Taste of Harvest competition and the country’s first ever coffee auction.
The three-day training, which begins August 22, targets coffee producers, exporters, processors and roasters and will be conducted by UCDA’s highly skilled quality and promotions staff in collaboration with AFCA.
The training will provide participants with skills to prepare and process high quality specialty coffee beans ahead of Taste of Harvest (TOH) competition.
Taste of Harvest competition is a national annual competition held at Uganda Coffee Development Quality Laboratory in Lugogo.
The competition will be held from 22 to 26 January 2018. Interested farmers submit their best coffee samples for grading.
Grading of coffee is determined by specialists known as Q and R graders. The coffee that scores above 80 is considered specialty coffee and will automatically attract good market and better prices.
The competition, therefore, serves to show that good practices can benefit farmers. As part of its mandate, UCDA regularly trains farmers across the country to produce quality coffee through good handling practices.
As a result, there are areas in Uganda which do produce high quality coffees such as Kanungu, Sipi, Iganga and Luwero.
Ugandan coffee in general has great taste. It is just a matter of handling it the right way. Farmers must work towards better quality coffee.
UCDA is excited about the opportunities that the auction and competition will bring to Uganda’s coffee industry.
Through these two events, producers of high quality coffees, including smallholder coffee farmers, will access new markets and create an international brand for their coffees.
UCDA is pleased to be working with AFCA to achieve this reality for Ugandan farmers.