Coffee exports from Uganda, Africa’s second-biggest grower of the crop, fell 26 percent in February after a dry spell cut yields, the Uganda Coffee Development Authority said.
Shipments declined to 193,965 60-kilogram (132-pound) bags from 262,793 bags a year earlier, the agency said today in a draft report, details of which were provided to Bloomberg News by phone from the capital, Kampala. Exports surpassed an earlier forecast of 185,000 bags, though they were lower than the 215,180 bags shipped in January, the authority said.
Shipments in the 12 months through September may climb 16 percent to 3.1 million bags because of an anticipated improvement in weather and yields from new tree plantings, the agency said on Sept. 20.
Exports from the start of the season on Oct. 1 through February declined 7.6 percent to 1.1 million bags, according to a tally of UCDA figures by Bloomberg News.
Uganda is Africa’s second-biggest producer of coffee after Ethiopia. Robusta accounts for about 85 percent of annual output. The country earned $243.6 million from the beans last season, compared with $291.3 million a year earlier.
The East African nation, whose yields declined from 4.4 million bags in 1996-97 partly because of crop damage by the coffee wilt disease, plans to increase production to 4.5 million a season by 2015 through an ongoing replanting program, according to the agency.
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