spread during the earlier outbreaks in DRC and West Africa. Control measures cur‐ rently in use aim at reducing the spread of the disease through burning infected coffee trees on site, delaying replanting at least by one to two seasons, and restricting move‐ ment of infected material and soil.

The wilt disease, which was first confirmed in Uganda in 1993, has been moni‐ tored through field reports and numerous scientific surveys. The disease was the sub‐ ject of a workshop (hosted by the Government of Uganda in July 1997), attended by 60 participants from most East and Central Africa coffee producing countries (Sewaya 1999, p. 37). The workshop’s resolutions were: (i) immediate action should be taken to contain the disease; (ii) a project proposal should be presented to the ICO and EU for funding; and (iii) Uganda and DRC should take the lead in the investigations. In terms of research, however, it appears that no immediate progress was made. A few years later, for example, Lutakome (2001, p. 66) noted that “Research work will be intensified to develop a resistant coffee cultivar. Epidemiological study results on the disease will also be made available to farmers.” The latest UCDA survey confirmed that all robusta‐producing districts have been affected by the disease. In some cases entire coffee fields have been destroyed. Al‐ though precise estimates on the impact of the disease are not available, one can gauge the effects of the disease based on the 2003 review study which estimated that of the to‐ tal of 240,000 hectares in all 21 robusta‐growing (traditional) districts, 122,400 hectares have been infected (equivalent to about 136 million robusta trees), representing a 51 percent cumulative infection rate (UCDA, _2003/04 Annual Report_ , p. 29). There is consid‐ erable variation among districts with infection rates ranging from a low of 12 percent (Rakai) to a high of 67.2 percent (Mukono, the district accounting for 22 percent of Uganda’s robusta area).

The impact of the coffee disease is enormous. UCDA estimated a loss equivalent to 61,200 tons (1.02 million bags) of coffee, which is around 40 percent of the output in recent years. This corresponds to $42.8 million in export revenue loss per annum at 2003/04 prices (Ush 1,090/kg). Under different assumptions regarding production (88,240 tons) and prices (Ush 1,200/kg), UCTF put the annual losses at $51 million. Note that the wilt disease had been identified as the key problem of Uganda’s coffee industry by Ponte (2002, p. 260): “Uganda’s falling production and changing roaster’s blends may marginalize it in the future _vis‐à‐vis_ cheaper origins, **<u>unless coffee wilt disease is tackled</u>** ” [emphasis added].

Obviously, the only long‐term solution is the development of wilt disease‐ resistant coffee varieties. Although some progress has been made towards that end, de‐ tails are still unclear. For example, UCDA ( _2003/04 Annual Report_ , p. 37) reports that: “Steady progress has been made in the development of robusta coffee lines resistant to the disease. Sustained screening programme has to date identified 593 coffee wilt resis‐ tant robusta coffee clones. These were identified among seedlings of germplasm collec‐

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