This new DIIS publication is now online available at www.diis.dk:
An Overview of the Certified Organic Export Sector in Uganda
Peter Gibbon, DIIS Working Paper 2006: http://www.diis.dk/sw21578.asp
DIIS Working Paper 2006:13, March 2006, 36 p. ISBN: 87-7605-138-2
DKK 25 incl. VAT/moms, shortly after publication
Peter Gibbon is Senior Researcher, Global Economy, Trade and Development Group, Danish Institute for International Studies, Copenhagen ([email protected]).
Abstract
This paper reports the results of a survey of almost all certified and in-conversion organic export operations in Uganda in late 2005.
It covers products exported, company size and ownership, standards exported to, certification costs, total export values, value-added in Uganda, marketing channels, crop procurement systems, management of organic operations and the main challenges experienced by exporters.
Findings include that numbers of certified exporters are growing rapidly. Export values are also growing, but more slowly: They reached 6,2 million US dollar in 2005.
A handful of firms exporting coffee and cotton dominate the sector and this situation is likely to remain. Though the sector is maturing, most recent entrants are small, relatively weak and currently depend on donor support.
Introduction
The certified organic sector in Uganda is frequently referred to as the largest and most advanced in Africa, and to this extent a model that the organic movement and organic operators in the rest of the continent should aim at.
In fact, although Uganda has more certified organic smallholders than any other African country it is far from clear whether it has more export enterprises or whether its exports indeed exceed those of South Africa or Egypt. Lack of clarity on these points derives in part from the fact that no satisfactory overview of the Ugandan sector is available.
To provide such an overview, as accurate and comprehensive as possible as of December 2005, is one of the aims of this Working Paper. Its other main aim is to sum up what appear to be the main trends in the sector, what underlies them, and what can be learnt from them – particularly by the stakeholders themselves.
The overview is based on a survey of almost all operators, conducted between late October and early December 2005. The report starts by exploring the identity of operators in the sector, trends in product focus, standards to which products are certified, operators choice of certification body and their costs of certification.
It then goes on to estimate the current value and composition of certified organic exports before examining operators market channels, marketing strategies, crop procurement systems, field operations and buying systems.
It continues by looking at the management of organic export operations and at levels and types of donor support, before concluding with a discussion of exporters perceptions of the main challenges and benefits of certified organic exporting, and the main lessons that they draw from their experience of working in this sector.
Danish Institute for International Studies, DIIS, Strandgade 56, 1401 Copenhagen K.
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