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Uganda coffee was ranked 3rd best in the world behind Ethiopia and Kenya by professional coffee tasters in a survey of the top *6 coffee-growing countries in the world. The coffee tasters graded 1,**9 coffees from around the world that was harvested from ***0 to ***8 with the top three spots going to African countries. The professional coffee tasters are certified by the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI), a non-profit organization that works internationally to improve the quality of coffee  and the lives of the people who produce it. The CQI certified coffee graders must pass *2 tests to prove they can grade coffee accurately and consistently by its aroma, flavour, acidity, body, balance and more. A grading scale with a maximum score of **0 was used to score coffees from each of the *6 countries. Ethiopia scored the highest average rating with *4.*8, followed by Kenya with an average rating of *4.*1 and Uganda came third with an average rating of *4.*5.
Out of the Uganda coffees that were tested, Arabica coffee from Uganda came top with a score of *6.*3.
Coffee is the second largest valued commodity in international trade and most widely traded tropical agricultural commodity after petroleum. In the East African Community, Uganda remains the lead exporter of coffee, closely followed by Kenya and Tanzania

The coffee from us passes through three processing stages i.e primary, secondary and tertiary processing.
PRIMARY PROCESSING
The ripe coffee fruits (cherries) go through a number of operations aimed at extracting the beans from their covering of pulp, mucilage, parchment and film to improve their appearance. The resulting clean coffee can then be roasted and ground to obtain the coffee powder which is fit for human consumption. There are two main techniques used to obtain the clean coffee;
1. Wet processing in which the fruit is processed in three stages: • Removal of pulp and mucilage followed by washing to obtain clean wet parchment 
Drying of the parchment coffee • Removal of the parchment and film through hulling followed by grading to obtain the desired grades (sizes) of the clean coffee.
2. Dry processing which involves two stages: • Drying of the cherries (usually under the sun) and • Removal of the dried coverings (husks) in a mechanical operation (hulling). Wet processing is done for the choice Arabica coffees produced at high altitudes (over 1,**0 m above sea level) in the Mount Elgon areas in the East. This is where our coffee comes from.
Dry processing produces coffees that are described as hard. These are mainly the Robusta's grown around the Lake Victoria basin and they account for about *5 % of Ugandas total annual production. The wet processed (washed) coffees are generally superior to the dry processed in terms of physical appearance and the cup taste.
B) Wet processing:
1. Cherry separation: The harvest often includes unripe, immature cherries, dried cherries, twigs and leaves. These are lighter than the mature ripe cherries and can therefore be removed by a floatation process which can be done in a simple vat or mechanically in a washer separator, which floats off the undesired impurities and washes the ripe cherries.
2. Pulping: The cleaned cherries are then pulped a process in which the wet beans are squeezed out from the cherries leaving the pulp. Pulping can be done using a hand-pulper with a capacity of about **0 Kg/hr of fresh cherries. The capacity may be increased by the incorporation of an electric motor or a diesel/petrol engine. Larger units of up to 4.0 T/hr are available at central pulping stations. The wet parchment beans have a mucilage layer around them that is removed by bio-chemical enzyme activity through controlled fermentation to give fully washed coffees.
If the mucilage is mechanically removed the coffees produced are referred to as semi-washed.
3. Washing: After the mucilage is degraded it is removed by washing in a washing channel or vat filled with water. The density of the parchment coffee is slightly higher than the water and the beans will sink to the bottom of the vat. It is therefore necessary to continuously stir the beans using rotary stirring rods or manually using spades in the washing channel.
In a mechanical mucilage remover, mucilage degradation and washing are done in a single operation.
4. Drying: The wet parchment free of mucilage at moisture contents of *0 *0 % is then dried on suitable raised drying tables to the required *2 % to ensure their conservation. Mechanical driers to hasten the drying regime can be used after draining off some of the water.
C) Dry Processing:
1. Harvesting: The harvested cherries are usually not sorted before commencement of the drying regime. Careful harvesting to exclude immature cherries and extraneous matter e.g., stones is essential.
2. Drying: The drying regime should begin immediately after harvest to avoid the development of undesirable taints and moulds. The cherries are spread out to dry in the sun on suitable drying surfaces e.g., raised trays or tarpaulins. The coffee must be frequently stirred to achieve uniform drying. The coffee should not be rewetted at any time during the drying regime.
Drying will be complete when the dried cherries (kiboko) have attained moisture content of *3 *4 %.
D) Hulling: In the wet method the dried coffee beans have a parchment covering while in the dry method, the beans are covered with the husk. These are removed in a mechanical operation known as hulling. The hullers usually rotate at a speed of **0 **0 rpm. Higher speeds result into a polished appearance but also increase the breakages. There are about **0 active hulleries now operating throughout the country.
The resulting clean dry coffee beans are in both cases referred to as FAQ (Fair Average Quality). The FAQ is then sorted according to size using perforated sieves and by specific gravity in a gravity table or by pneumatic sorting in a catador
Secondary Processing
FAQ to green Export coffee:
Over *5 % of the total annual coffee production is exported as green beans. Secondary processing also known as export grading transforms the clean coffee (FAQ) into the various coffee grades that meet the international standards. The process involves cleaning the FAQ, drying the coffee if wet (M.C over *3 %) followed by size grading using perforated screens of the desired size. The sorted beans are the gravimetrically sorted to have uniform specific density before bagging off and loaded into containers for transportation to the ports.
Currently, there are about *9 active export grading factories, four of these are located in the Bugisu region, one is located in Mbarara town in the Western region and the rest are in Kampala.
1. Pre-cleaning and de-stoning: The FAQ coffee collected from the various suppliers is of mixed quality depending on the individual supplier's storage and handling techniques. The coffee is often wet (M.C > *4 %) and includes extraneous matter e.g., stones, chaff etc. The FAQ passes to the pre-cleaner where the undesirable impurities that are often lighter than the good beans are removed. The wet FAQ passes to a drier. Dry coffee then continues to a destoner where the denser stones are eliminated.
2. Size grading: The cleaned coffee then passes to a grader, which often consists of a box fitted with screens of various sizes in descending order. The larger beans are retained on the required screen and pass to a lateral exit.
3. Gravimetric sorting: Although the sorted beans are now of the same size, they may vary in weight mainly due to poor agronomic practices especially the harvesting of immature cherries. The coffee passes over a gravity table where separation occurs at various points on the fluidized bed
4. Bag-off: The coffee is then bagged in jute bags of *0 Kg which are then loaded into a container for transportation to the port. The following are the Ugandan export grades: Arabica Robusta Washed Natural Washed Natural 1. Bugisu AA Drugar A Screen ***0 Wur A B ***0 PB C ***0 B ***0 C ***0 E ***0 2. Wugar A B C
Drugar = Natural Dry Uganda Arabica Wugar = Washed Uganda Arabica (other than Bugisus) Wur = Washed Uganda Robusta.
Other improved grades for the niche markets include Organic and Specialty coffees.
Tertiary Processing
Green coffee to the cup:
The domestic coffee consumption is still exceptionally low at about 3 5 % of Ugandas total annual production. There are assorted reasons for this namely; 1. Low promotion on the domestic market to combat the traditional misgivings against coffee consumption 2. The domestic roasters face fierce competition for the good graded coffee, which can be exported for higher revenues. The roasters thus resort to cheap, lesser quality coffee e.g., rejects and BHP, which do not give a very palatable powder. 3. Inadequate roasting equipment and packaging materials.
At the moment, there are only about *2 registered domestic roasters. Three of these are located in the eastern Bugisu area of Mt Elgon and process Arabica coffees. Two roasters are processing their coffee at the TANICA soluble coffee factory in Bukoba, Tanzania and then re-packaging the powder in Kampala before distributing to the local and regional markets.
However, several new coffee shops have begun operating and these have continued to attract a sizable middle-class clientele.
Coffee prices
Un processed Robusta per Kg
• Kiboko(dry Robusta) $3/kg
• FAQ (fair average quality) $4.*0/kg
unprocessed arabica
• arabica parchment $6.*5/kg
• Drugar(Dry Ugandan arabica) $6.*5/kg
processed Robusta ( price in USD per kg)
• Screen **- $*0
• Screen **- $9.*5
• Screen **- $8.*7
Processed Arabica (price in USD per Kg)