The importance of Uganda's coffee Uganda has gone through two decades of political turmoil, economic decline and agricultural transformation. Since the coming to power of president Museveni in 1986, the country has embarked on a major economic recovery programme, which has resulted in a significant increase in economic performance reflected in an average annual growth rate of nearly five per cent. Coffee is its main export crop, in 1990 accounting for over 79 per cent of foreign exchange earnings. In terms of total domestic revenue, it contributed about 12 per cent in the form of export tax. Foreign exchange earnings decreased in the early 1990s due to the collapse of international coffee prices.
Coffee production is spread throughout all of Uganda.
The robusta variety accounts for up to 92 per cent of total output. The production of coffee uses 250,000 hectares out of the country's 23.6 million hectares. Although industrial output has been growing at a rapid rate of over 10 per cent annually in the last three years, Uganda still has one of the highest ratios of dependence on one cash crop in Africa. Its economy is therefore vulnerable to changes in international coffee prices, or to technological innovations that might enable the growing of coffee in countries which are not among the traditional producers. The replacement of old coffee trees, yield and quality improvements, and enhanced disease resistance of coffee have been a major policy area in Uganda.