Coffee farmers in Nanziga and Maya villages of Wakiso District have cried out loud to JKCC to run to their rescue over the increasing Coffee wilt disease that is drastically affecting their coffee.

This was disclosed to the JKCC sustainability team that had Paid them a courtesy visit on Saturday afternoon.  The farmers said that Coffee wilt disease (tracheomycosis) is the common challenge they have at the moment that results in complete death of coffee trees it infects.

Nehemiah Sekiranda, one of the farmers from Nanziga who led the to his seven-acre coffee farm revealed that this kind of infection in the coffee has affected the production in the area. “Our area is known for mass coffee production but the wilt is killing our treasure. This vascular disease is induced by the fungal pathogen. If we could get medicine to this, our production would be boosted” Said Sekiranda.

The team visited over ten farms and this was the same cry they had. Merab Nakabugo, a female Coffee farmer in her mid-50’s said on top of the Wilt being rampant, there is also a challenge of fake pesticides on the market yet they are expensive. She said she applied almost all types of pesticides but has not been helped as the pests have persisted.

She also noted that she faces lots of challenges as a female gender in the coffee business. She said that women provide the bulk of low-paid labour in Uganda’s coffee sector, yet it is men who market the coffee, run the cooperatives and have control over the majority of the profits.

It’s within the mandates of JKCC Supplies Ltd, a private sector-led group to develop and promote the Ugandan coffee industry through technical assistance and credit programs for coffee farms; and through marketing and promotions of coffee for domestic and export markets.