President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has directed the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) to draft new regulations to improve tea production and management in Uganda. The move seeks to protect farmers from declining international prices linked to poor quality and improper farming practices.
Speaking in Bushenyi District while meeting tea growers, nursery operators, and processors from western Uganda, Museveni said the government would ensure that both growers and buyers deal only in quality tea.
“We need to regulate those who grow tea so that they grow it properly and the ones who buy tea, buy good tea. This will be done,” he said.
The President asked tea farmers to provide written guidance to government on whether tea should be categorized as a high-value or low-value crop. He noted that such clarity would determine whether tea remains an extensive crop or transitions to intensive farming.
“I want you to go back and write to me on the issue of whether tea is a high value crop under intensive agriculture or we should continue with extensive agriculture… Let me get some advice so that we can confidently transfer tea from an extensive type of crop to an intensive one,” Museveni said.
He added that experts including Prof. Tarsis Kabwegyere and Prof. Ephraim Kamuntu will coordinate studies to establish productivity benchmarks, noting projections that one acre could yield up to 8,000 kilograms of tea if managed well.
Museveni also rejected calls for a standalone Tea Authority, saying government would instead create crop desks within MAAIF. He argued that forming multiple authorities for every cash crop was unsustainable.
“Regarding the issue of the Tea Authority, that’s a colonial mentality… In the colonial times, they were telling you cash crops are only coffee, cotton, tobacco and tea. But NRM is telling you that bananas, cassava and the like are also cash crops,” he said.
The President further promised government support, including access to a fertilizer fund and Shs 312 billion to help farmers clear loans and improve tea quality for the export market.
Minister of Agriculture, Frank Tumwebaze, urged farmers to adopt self-regulatory measures as government works on policy reforms.
The Chairperson of Uganda Tea Outgrowers Association, Onesimus Matsiko, called for urgent action on zoning policies and affordable fertilizers.
“Your Excellency, if the issue of costly fertilizers and green leaf quality regulation are dealt with, we would solve Uganda tea industry problems by more than 80 percent,” he said.
The meeting was also attended by Deputy Speaker of Parliament Thomas Tayebwa, cabinet ministers, and Members of Parliament.