Dear Your Excellency, the Head of European Union (EU) in Uganda.
Warm greetings from my family, my small coffee farm, and the people of Bushenyi, especially the coffee farmers. We deeply appreciate the cordial relationship between the people of Uganda, the Ugandan government, and the European Union (EU.)
As a small coffee farmer with a profound passion for our environment, I have been closely following the discussions/debate on both the mainstream and social media platforms regarding the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) which intends to prohibit the import of crops grown and harvested from land which was previously designated as forests.
Your Excellency, while this decision may impact small-scale farmers like myself, it will ultimately benefit our environment, and we will all reap the rewards of a conserved Mother Nature in the long run.
The EU’s decision has raised concerns because it touches on coffee, a vital crop that has the potential to strengthen international relationships through international business deals. There is no doubt that this move has left us, as coffee farmers and even the government, uncertain about the future.
However, Your Excellency, I trust that the EU’s intentions are positive for both our coffee industry and the environment/mother nature.
The EU’s initiative has prompted our government to register all coffee farmers for traceability purposes. Your Excellency, this is a welcome development and a wake-up call to think beyond natural forests and explore strategies to increase forest coverage. The EU’s move is undoubtedly aimed at halting deforestation.
Despite numerous conferences, workshops, and bilateral talks on stopping deforestation as one of the measures to address climate change, little has been done to curb the appetite for machinery in our natural forests.
Your Excellency, the EU’s strategy, though painful, is necessary to compel governments to act and protect our forests.
In international relations/diplomacy, it is sometimes advisable to ‘cause fear to create order.’ The EU’s move has sparked discussions about the rampant deforestation in our forests.
Many campaigns and negotiations on deforestation and environmental degradation have been conducted, but governments and people, especially in developing countries, have not taken them seriously. This may be because they have not yet experienced the severe consequences of environmental degradation like what some developed countries have gone through.
Your Excellency, deforestation persists partly because some government officials in developing countries are involved in the timber business. It is important to note that ordinary people/small farmers do not have the capacity to clear large areas of natural forests for coffee plantations and other crops. If coffee plantations exist in former forested areas, it is the wealthy/rich people who have established them there.
Therefore, Your Excellency, the EU’s warning, starting with coffee, one of the leading foreign exchange earners, is a good strategy to compel governments to act and protect our natural forests.
However, Your Excellency, it is unfortunate that the actions of the wealthy/rich people, especially those in the timber and gold businesses, will negatively impact smallholder coffee farmers. As the saying goes, ‘when two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.’ In this case, it is the common person who will suffer if the EU enforces this strategy without considering various factors.
The rich timber businessmen may have other fallback options for survival and business, unlike the common/ordinary person who directly benefits from the EU market when his/her coffee accesses market. If the goal is to combat deforestation, the EU should support relevant agencies like the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) and our local coffee cooperatives to monitor coffee farmers, especially those near natural reserves and forests.
In some areas, some farmers have chosen to uproot eucalyptus trees (which they had planted on their private land) to plant coffee and other productive crops like bananas. Eucalyptus is considered environmentally unfriendly specie, and to some extent our local leaders have led operations to cut down and decampaign eucalyptus trees, especially near wetlands. It is unclear how eucalyptus is categorized in this EU debate.
Your Excellency, while the EU has identified deforestation as its entry point to enforce environmental laws, other agricultural practices that degrade the environment must also be addressed. The use of chemicals to spray weeds, treat crop pests and diseases, and apply fertilizers, which ultimately affect soil fertility, must be mitigated.
Way Forward
Your Excellency, as the focus shifts to increasing forest coverage, we must also look at several options of empowering households/farmers in developing countries to practice climate smart agriculture which promotes agro-forestry among others. How can we enable each household to own a tree in the garden? Coffee plantations can accommodate various environmentally friendly tree species, which will help increase forest coverage in the long run.
At my small farm where I am running a concept dubbed; Muga Eco Village (www.mugaecovillage.com), I have personally sacrificed and gazetted a piece of land where I have planted trees and allowed nature to regenerate just for demonstration purposes. I know many people are willing to gazette some plots of land to plant trees and also plant alongside their crops, especially coffee, but they lack knowledge, training and access to environmentally friendly tree seedlings.
Your Excellency, as the EU implements this EUDR policy, we appeal to you to consider these local dynamics and develop sustainable interventions and mitigation measures that benefit both humanity and Mother Nature.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Yours sincerely,
Chris Mugasha
Coffee farmer/Journalist/Environmental activist.
Contacts: +256 392 840 814, +256 701 086722
