In Ntungamo District, anticipation is brewing as the Inspire Africa Coffee Park in Rwashamire nears completion. Construction now stands at 85 percent, with equipment already tested, and the facility is expected to open its doors to farmers within a week.
Over 7,000 farmers have registered, ready to supply coffee directly to the park, which has pledged to pay above prevailing market prices.
For decades, Uganda’s coffee sector–though a backbone of the economy and the country’s leading foreign exchange earner–has struggled with low farmer incomes, post-harvest losses, and limited value addition.
For decades, Uganda’s coffee–its leading foreign exchange earner–has largely left the country as raw beans, denying farmers and the economy the higher profits that come with processing and branding.
The Inspire Africa Coffee Park aims to change this equation. Equipped with modern facilities for milling, roasting, grinding, packaging, and storage, the park is positioning itself to shift the narrative from Uganda as a supplier of raw beans to a global contender in premium finished coffee.
This project arrives at a pivotal time. In May 2025, Uganda officially surpassed Ethiopia to become Africa’s largest coffee exporter, shipping 47,606.7 tonnes compared to Ethiopia’s 43,481 tonnes–a historic shift in the continent’s coffee economy.
The country exported 793,445 60-kg bags that month, earning $243.9 million. Between June 2024 and May 2025, Uganda exported 7.43 million bags, generating $2.09 billion.
This growth underscores the power of improved quality controls, enhanced farmer training, and strengthened value chains.
In stark contrast to the controversial Vinci Coffee deal–criticised for its opacity and sidelining of local actors–Inspire Africa stands out as a proudly Ugandan initiative deeply rooted in farmer inclusion.
It brings both a “head and a tail”: clear ownership and direct impact.
Asaph Kubiriba, a farmer from Rwashamire Town Council, said the project has already altered how farmers view their crop.
“Before Inspire Africa Coffee, we didn’t know the real value of coffee. We treated it as just a cash crop to sell in bulk,” he said.
“Now, we see coffee as wealth, as a business with grades and taste profiles. Inspire Africa has promised to buy our coffee at a price higher than the market by at least 2,000 shillings per kilogram. That gives us hope.”
Ugandan farmers have long been frustrated by price fluctuations on the global market. Oversupply from countries like Brazil, Vietnam, and India recently pushed prices down, leaving local producers struggling.
However, the Ministry of Agriculture this week confirmed that prices have recovered to between Shs13,000 and Shs14,000 per kilogram.
With Inspire Africa pledging to add Shs2,000 above that, optimism has returned.
Building a Value Chain at Home
According to Inspire Africa’s Public Relations Officer, Asuman Kigongo, the farmer registration exercise is not only about supply but also about understanding production capacity.
“We register farmers at the constituency, subcounty, and district levels to trace their origins, the type of coffee they grow, the soil conditions, and the acreage. This data tells us how much coffee a farmer can sustainably produce,” Kigongo explained.
Operations at the park are nearly ready, with equipment for wet milling, roasting, and bulk packaging installed.
The first branded packs–500 grams and 1 kilogram–are expected to reach the market within a month.
By October or November, full-scale operations will demand at least 1,000 tonnes of farmer-supplied coffee.
Ambrose Ndashimye, Acting Production In-Charge at Inspire Africa, emphasized that the park is designed to add value from start to finish.
“We buy coffee from farmers, run it through quality checks, then store it in silos. From there, we process it: drying, wet milling, roasting, grinding, and packaging,” Ndashimye said.
“The final products–brown coffee and roasted beans–will be packaged for the Ugandan and international markets.”
The park also has plans to venture into instant coffee production, using advanced spray-drying and freeze-drying technology–sectors where Uganda has barely scratched the surface.
Beyond infrastructure, Inspire Africa is reshaping farming practices in Ntungamo. Extension workers are training farmers in organic methods, teaching them to grade and cup their coffee for quality assurance.
Coffee nursery beds have multiplied, signaling both excitement and confidence in the project.
“It has brought a mindset change. We now know about grades, cuptaste, and how these determine price. In the future, we’ll be selling graded and cupped coffee that commands much higher prices,” said Asaph.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
This transformation goes to the heart of Uganda’s coffee story. While coffee contributes over 20 percent of export earnings and supports more than 1.7 million households, the country has historically earned less than a tenth of what finished coffee fetches globally.
A kilogram of Ugandan green beans may sell for $2, yet the same beans roasted, branded, and marketed in Europe or America sell for more than $20.
Kigongo argued that this must change if Uganda is to unlock the true potential of its “brown gold.”
“Ugandans should focus on value addition. We cannot continue exporting raw beans and letting others reap the profits. With Inspire Africa, we want to grow quality coffee, process it here, and take our own coffee to the world,” he said.
For the farmers of Ntungamo, the Inspire Africa Coffee Park represents more than a factory. It is a promise of dignity, fairer returns, and a chance for Uganda to redefine its place in the global coffee industry.