The Bishop of South Ankole diocese, Rt.Rev.Nathan Ahimbisibwe, has all churches and Ugandans prioritize coffee growing, as this will help to fight poverty and foster development.

Ahimbisibwe said coffee is a project once embarked on by all Ugandans and institutions will foster development and improve the livelihoods of all Ugandans.

Speaking to Family TV, Bishop Ahimbisibwe said his diocese has already started yielding good fruits from 23 acres of coffee they planted three years ago.

The diocese embarked on coffee growing in March 2019 after a decision was reached mandating all churches in the diocese to grow coffee as a source of income.

South Ankole has a total of 281 churches, 61 parishes, and 10 archdeaconries, According to Bishop Ahimbisibwe all these churches are engaged in coffee growing. He said so far they have a total of 200 acres of coffee grown on church land across the diocese

He explained that in an acre in a good season, they earn between 7-14 million in coffee sales.

Asked about their plan, Ahimbisibwe said they dream to do value addition and start packing coffee and export it, as this will increase their earning. He said with support from the government they have already embarked on the construction of a coffee factory.

As a lead example, Bishop Ahimbisibwe is implementing a coffee project at his home together with a variety of other projects like growing vanilla, jackfruits, mangoes, bananas, and Hass avocados.

Uganda currently produces only 8.6 million bags. Ahimbisibwe said the numbers can increase if all institutions, leaders, and stakeholders take part in encouraging all Ugandans to grow coffee.

KARIM SSENGENDO