Bugisu Cultural Institution partners with OWC, deploys UBOS tablets in major coffee survey

What the report says

The Bugisu Cultural Institution has teamed up with Operation Wealth Creation to carry out a rapid assessment of Arabica coffee production in the foothills of Mount Elgon, with the goal of building baseline data for a wider investment plan for Bugisu’s main cash crop. The effort is being led by Umukuuka wa Bugisu Sir Jude Mike Mudoma and forms part of the Bugisu Transformational Agenda, a programme intended to attract partners into coffee value-chain development and related sectors.

According to The Independent Uganda, the survey is being done with support from Uganda Bureau of Statistics tablets and the KoboCollect data-collection app. The institution says the devices will help gather, analyse and feed cultural and economic data into the national statistics system. The article says some of the tablets had previously been used in the 2024 National Population and Housing Census and were returned to Mbale, where the institution is based.

The assessment is focused on farmers, agro-processors, middlemen and exporters in Bugisu, and is expected to identify indicators the institution can later use to track progress in an Arabica-led investment plan. Reported indicators include access to approved seedlings, use of organic manure and pesticides, farm rehabilitation practices, soil and water conservation, shade-tree coverage and coffee value addition. Musamali said the report was expected by the first week of September, with the aim of helping secure investor interest.

The wider significance is that coffee remains central to livelihoods in eastern Uganda, and the survey reflects a push to organize local data around commercial agriculture. As general context, coffee-sector planning often depends on reliable farm-level information to guide investment, extension services and marketing decisions.