KapyomaEducation Lot

Uganda is a fascinating origin, but not for the same reasons we commonly celebrate in specialty coffee today. At least for now, it’s climate has not been known to be accommodating to the most prized arabica varieties - be those the hot varieties of the moment or those of established pedigree (e.g. chiroso, pink bourbon, gesha etc.). Nonetheless, Uganda is a power house producing country. Data collected by the ICO (International Coffee Organization) in 2022, listed Uganda as the seventh largest exporter of coffee globally, and the second largest in Africa after Ethiopia. The reason Uganda is such a massive producing country, living in general obscurity in the specialty sector, is because it primarily produces Robusta, with "Uganda now the fourth largest robusta producer in the world, after Vietnam, Brazil and Indonesia” (Davis et al., 2023).

Robusta coffee cherries

This attachment to Robusta, however, is not due to a historical lack of trying. All three of our recently released Education Lots from Uganda contain a mix of the well known SL (Scott Labaratory) varieties synonymous with Kenya, such as SL14 and SL28, in addition to a variety from the typica parent line that's more unique to Uganda, called nyasaland. Also sometimes called bugisu, it is one of the oldest Arabica varieties introduced to Africa, where it made its way to Uganda in 1910 after its introduction to Malawi in 1878 by way of Jamaica. Despite best efforts, this early introduction of typica genetics to Malawi, and subsequently Uganda, struggled to adapt to the hotter and drier climate of these central/east african nations, paving the way for the prevalence of Robusta production. As evidence by our most recent release of Ugandan coffees, however, the altitude and the skill of the producers is there to create delicious specialty grade arabica coffee.

Perhaps the most fascinating element of Uganda as a coffee producing origin is the large diversity of the Coffea genus it contains, and the potential implications that has for the future of global coffee production: "Uganda is fortunate, however, in possessing key wild (indigenous) coffee genetic resources, which offer promise for coffee crop development, climate-resilience potential (Kiwuka et al., 2021) and commercial enrichment” (Davis et al., 2023). A study from 2023 catalogued four indigenous coffee species in Uganda: C. canephora, C. eugenioides, C. liberica var. dewevrei (excelsa) and C. neoleroyi. Already, these "Wild coffee (genetic) resources, both from within the two major crop species, C. arabica and C. canephora, and other species, have played a vital role in sustaining coffee production (farming) and thus the sector as whole” through addressing a host of coffee plant pests and diseases including coffee berry disease, coffee wilt disease, coffee leaf rust, coffee leaf miner, and more (Davis et al., 2023). In other words, as global research continues into discovering and breeding more ‘climate-resilient’ coffee varieties, it is countries like Uganda that may be quietly shaping the future of coffee.

Sources and Further Reading:

Davis, Aaron P., et al. “A Review of the Indigenous Coffee Resources of Uganda and Their Potential for Coffee Sector Sustainability and Development.” Frontiers in Plant Science, vol. 13, 17 Feb. 2023,

World Coffee Research Varieties Catalog: Nyasaland