Exports from Uganda, Africa’s biggest coffee exporter, surged 19 percent on year in August, according to figures from UCDA’s monthly report. Shipments rose to 320,297 60-kg bags, up from 268,033 bags in the same month of 2014.
The rise was the third in a row, as shipments from the continent’s largest exporter of the commodity continue to recover from a seven-month streak of annual falls due to the effects of a drought suffered earlier in the year.
During the first 11 months of CY 2014/15, Uganda sold abroad 3.17 million bags of coffee earning $381 million, the state-run Authority also said in its report.
This represents a 3.6 percent drop in volume, but a 4 percent rise in value. UCDA sees September shipments up 34 percent on year to 280,000 bags. Uganda is Africa’s second biggest producer behind Ethiopia.
Coffee is one of the country’s major foreign exchange earners. The main harvest is currently underway in the central and eastern parts of the country
