CSOs Warn Of Impact To Coffee Farmers With Less Than 250 Days Left Before EUDR Implementation Deadline – CoffeeTalk

Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) have raised concerns over Uganda’s readiness to navigate sweeping coffee sector reforms and comply with the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), with just 239 days left before the enforcement deadline. The financial year 2025/26 marks the first year of implementation of the structural, institutional, and systemic reforms that rationalized the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) from a semi-autonomous agency to a department under the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries (MAAIF).

Uganda has 239 days to meet the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) requirements or risk its coffee being banned on the EU markets in case it was grown on deforested land. CSOs expressed deep concern about the limited public engagement and lack of clarity surrounding the transition of UCDA into a department under the Ministry of Agriculture and the European Union Deforestation Regulation requirements. This silence risks deepening existing inequalities, marginalizing smallholder voices, and exposing vulnerable actors to shocks that could undermine their livelihoods and Uganda’s global coffee competitiveness.

The dissolution of UCDA was part of the Rationalization of Government Agencies and Public Expenditure (RAPEX) policy, which aimed to merge, mainstream, and rationalize various government agencies, commissions, and authorities to reduce redundancy, eliminate duplication, and optimize public expenditure. However, the government turned a deaf ear, with President Museveni describing UCDA as a parasitic agency.

The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) requires companies and businesses to conduct extensive due diligence to ensure that their products are deforestation-free, including assessing the risk of deforestation linked to their supply chains. The regulation is part of a broader plan of action to tackle deforestation and forest degradation.

CSOs warned that without urgent action, these changes could jeopardize the livelihoods of 1.8 million Ugandan coffee farmers and threaten access to the EU market, which accounts for 60% of Uganda’s coffee exports. If compliance fails, Uganda could lose about $1.14 billion annually, hurting 1.8 million farmers.

The CSOs called on the government, through the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Cooperatives, to negotiate market diversification strategies beyond the EU to reduce dependency risk while supporting compliance for existing EU markets; promote women-led coffee enterprises and cooperatives by facilitating access to trade finance, market intelligence, and export facilitation programs; and enhance value addition initiatives locally and ensure women entrepreneurs have access to coffee processing, branding, and marketing support.

CSOs also called on the Ministry of Finance to ensure timely disbursement of funds allocated for the National Traceability System and farmer registration processes; introduce targeted financial instruments for women and smallholder farmers; and ring-fence funds for women- and youth-focused coffee programs, including training, technology adoption, and cooperative strengthening. They also called on Parliament to provide robust oversight to ensure the MAAIF’s timely and effective assumption of UCDA roles, enact supportive legislation to safeguard women’s participation and leadership in coffee cooperatives and value chains; and ensure sustainable budget allocations for research, extension services, and gender-equity programs in coffee farming.

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