Impact of the different methods of coffee processing on farmers’ incomes in Nkonkojeru Sub-county Buikwe District

Abstract

Uganda is adopting a strategy to increase coffee production through providing free seedlings to farmers. The country projects its production to reach 20million bags annually in early 2020s. While this will likely increase earnings, it will not be enough if farmers are not aware of the best coffee processing method that can have a positive impact on their incomes. The main objective for this study was to make an economic analysis on the methods of coffee processing and their impact on farmer’s income. Both primary and secondary data was used. Questionnaires and focus group discussions were used to collect primary data from the farmers while secondary data was collected from different reports on the same topic. Primary and secondary data collected was analysed using statistical package for social scientists version 16.0 where a logistic regression was run to analyse the different data sets. The target population was 50 farmers under Mabira coffee farmers association in Nkokonjeru Sub County. The logistic regression results showed that the age of the coffee farmers, education level, and access to extension services have a significant relationship (P < 0.05) with coffee farmer’s decision to adopt to the wet processing method. The results revealed that the average monthly profits attained by farmers using wet method of processing are significantly different (P < 0.05) from that of famers using dry method of processing. The major challenges that coffee farmers face as they use the two methods of processing was abrupt weather changes (51%). Other challenges included, limited storage facilities (19%), limited market (7%), thieves (6%), limited storage facilities (5%), insufficient equipment (5%), high cost of hiring labor (4%) and limited market information (3%). The benefit cost ratio of wet processing was 3.0 while that of dry processing of 2.71.Therefore this study recommended that more farmers be encouraged to practice wet processing of coffee.