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The Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation, Engineer Jonard Asiimwe, has pledged government support towards the commercialisation of Inspire Coffee, saying the project will play a key role in transforming Uganda’s coffee value chain and increasing farmers’ incomes.
The minister made the remarks on Friday during his first official visit to the Africa Coffee Park in Ntungamo District, where he assessed progress of the coffee value addition project supported by government.
The Africa Coffee Park is a 150-acre industrial hub being developed to support coffee processing and value addition, with plans to produce refined instant coffee, coffee-based beauty products and energy drinks using technologies such as freeze drying, roasting and spray drying.
The visit formed part of Asiimwe’s familiarisation tour of science and technology projects across the country. He was accompanied by officials from the Science, Technology and Innovation Secretariat, including Under Secretary Peter Ourien and other technical officers.
The delegation was received by Dr Robert Limlim, Chairperson of the Inspire Africa Board, and Nelson Tugume, Chief Executive Officer of Inspire Africa Group, who guided them through the different facilities at the park.
The minister toured the Inspire fertilizer processing plant in Nyabihoko, where coffee by-products and animal manure are used to produce organic fertilizer.
He also visited the water treatment plant at Kahengye along the Ntungamo-Rukungiri Road, which will supply two million litres of water daily for factory operations.
During the visit, Dr Limlim thanked government for supporting the project but called for the fast-tracking of an industrial electricity line from Mirama Hills to the Coffee Park to enable large-scale production.
“Hon. Minister, we thank the Government for the support so far. We have now sorted the issue of water; we are therefore requesting the Government to expedite the electricity line so that we can start industrial-scale production,” Dr Limlim said.
Tugume also appreciated government’s financial support towards the project while urging authorities to promote coffee consumption among Ugandans, including introducing coffee in secondary schools.
“We are grateful to the Government of Uganda for its continued support. We are requesting that Government starts to promote consumption of coffee in our schools. While in high school, we took tea every day. Why can’t we now have coffee in our secondary schools on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, because coffee will give the students the energy they need to read,” Tugume said.
He also asked government to consider imposing taxes on imported coffee once Uganda begins producing soluble coffee, arguing that the move would encourage consumption of locally produced products.
Asiimwe praised Inspire Africa Group for developing what he described as a transformative industrial project, saying it reflects Uganda’s ambition of using science and innovation to drive economic growth.
“I am here to affirm that H.E. the President has a strong belief in this project and other science projects, and this is why he has deployed me in the sector because I am an innovator,” Asiimwe said.
The minister said the Africa Coffee Park would improve Uganda’s competitiveness in global coffee markets and pledged government support to help move the project into full commercial production.
He directed the Department of Technical Support Services to develop a market plan for the commercialisation of Inspire Coffee and pledged to introduce a Cabinet policy requiring government agencies to serve Ugandan coffee.
Asiimwe also said government would work towards introducing coffee in secondary schools, saying increased domestic consumption would create a stronger market for Ugandan coffee producers.
The minister further instructed his technical team to expedite the valuation process that will enable government to acquire a legal stake in the Africa Coffee Park in recognition of the support extended to the project.
During the visit, Asiimwe met more than 100 coffee farmers who had visited the park and assured them of government support, including plans to link them to the facility for coffee bean supplies.
He encouraged farmers around the project area to invest in hotels and other social amenities to support the economic activities expected to emerge around the coffee park.
“Please build hotels and other facilities to support the activities of the Park because this project will be receiving a lot of visitors. We don’t want to leave you behind,” Asiimwe said.
The Africa Coffee Park is expected to become one of the largest coffee processing and value addition centres in Eastern Africa, supporting the production of instant coffee and other coffee-based products.
The project is also aligned with Uganda’s Fourth National Development Plan (NDP IV), which identifies coffee as one of the priority agricultural value chains for value addition between 2025/26 and 2029/30.
, https://nilepost.co.ug/news/357450/minister-asiimwe-pledges-government-support-for-inspire-coffee
