What can be so new and surprising from two such well-established organisations, the European Union (EU) and the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA)? In short, the Matching Grant Scheme (MGS) is being implemented as one of the activities under Result 2 of the Coffee and Cocoa Value Chain Development Project (CoCoDev). And again, you might ask, what is unique and new about a matching grant approach?

Is this not a standard methodology to ensure a joint commitment and investment into an initiative? Well, yes, the CoCoDev MGS approach is a cost-sharing methodology, but what is new is that the cost share is based on reimbursement from the project to the private sector investor after the investment has been made – that is, the planting of between 10 and 50 acres of either coffee or cocoa on new or virgin land. Due to this approach, the risk from the project side is minimal from a financial perspective. If the farmer does not plant the coffee or cocoa in line with their grant contract commitment, they will not be reimbursed. But if they keep their commitment, then CoCoDev will keep its commitment and reimburse the grower around UGX 3.2m per acre, which, according to UCDA cost calculations in the Robusta and Arabica coffee growing manuals, is about 55% of the total costs of establishing 1 acre of either coffee or cocoa. 

There are currently 134 signed MGS grants in operation, and this is expected to increase to 151 by the end of October 2024. Many projects struggle with managing less than 10 EU grants but, in EU terms, these are “micro-grants” in the range of around UGX 32.2 Million for a 10-acre plot to around UGX 160 Million for a 50-acre plot. Considering the “reimbursement nature” of the grant, there is no risk of the support being misspent because the grantee does not receive it until they have planted their fields. Furthermore, the payment is made in 2 parts – 60% once the coffee and/or cocoa have been planted, and then the balance of 40% 6 months later when the care and establishment of the field can be assessed. 

Another factor, which cuts across all aspects of the MGS implementation, is the fact that the CoCoDev Project is implemented by UCDA. Alongside the comparatively small CoCoDev Project Management Unit (PMU) located within the UCDA headquarters in Kampala, sits the nationwide network of the UCDA Regional offices with 56 Regional Coffee Extension Officers (RCEOs), who are expert trainers and advisors in coffee, as well as cocoa. 

Call for Interest

The CoCoDev PMU widely publicised a call for Expressions of Interest (EoI) to participate in the MGS with support from the Regional offices. Over 1,200 expressions were received from farmers interested in obtaining support to start or expand their coffee or cocoa plantations. 

These EoIs were assessed for basic eligibility criteria and 967 out of the 1200 applicants were invited to submit Full Applications to participate. From these invitations, 757 full applications were received and subjected to a 2-stage evaluation process. The 1^st stage was a desk evaluation where the applications, after another eligibility check, were scored against a set of criteria to assess the applicant’s knowledge of general agronomical practices in coffee and cocoa, assessment of their financial proposals and financial capacity to pre-finance the action, among others. 

The 2^nd stage was a field verification process where all applicants reaching this stage were visited to have their original documents checked, their land verified for suitability for growing coffee or cocoa, and the area of each production plot measured. The number of MGS applicants reaching the field verification stage was 370, and all of these were physically verified for two weeks in late June and early July 2024. The fields to be verified were spread from Kitgum and Koboko in the north to Kisoro in the south. This task was achieved through the use of a specially developed Kobo Collect Tool from the UCDA M&E department and 12 teams, comprised of CoCoDev PMU and UCDA’s coffee extension officers visited over 30 applicants each.

On returning to Kampala, the CoCoDev PMU cleaned and consolidated the results of the desk evaluation and field verification to support the Evaluation Committee in developing their report, which was submitted to the Ministry of Finance, National Authorising Office (NAO) and the EU on 30^th July 2024 for approval. The report was approved on the 23^rd of August 2024 and identified 134 beneficiaries for support with the available funding envelope. A total of 118 applicants were placed on a reserve list because although they passed both stages of the MGS evaluation process they could not be supported due to limited available funds. The key statistics for the successful MGS applicants and subsequent grantees are shown in the table below.

Key MGS Grantee Statistics

All the MGS grant contracts were signed before the end of August 2024, and the contracting was followed by two 4-day training sessions held at the National Coffee Research Institute (NaCORI) in Mukono District, to which all grantees were invited from 2^nd to 5^th September 2024 and from 9^th to 12^th September 2024. The training covered the essential aspects of CoCoDev MGS grant management, coffee and cocoa agronomy, farm management and record keeping, farming as a business, and farming ethics, which picked up on environmental care and gender sensitivity. Facilitation at the training was done by CoCoDev PMU and Technical Advisory Team (TAT) members, coffee extension officers, and NaCORI-based scientists. All aspects of the training were hands-on, using the NaCORI facilities for practical field work in coffee and cocoa planting techniques and disease identification.

The grantees have now returned to their farms to start their investments. They are preparing the ground for the coffee or cocoa planting and hopefully planting, if time allows, before the onset of the dry season across most of Uganda. The CoCoDev PMU and UCDA extension officers are available to offer technical support through this process. A complete tour of all grantees is expected in November 2024.

About the CoCoDev Project 

The Coffee and Cocoa Value Chain Development Project (CoCoDev) falls under the Inclusive Green Economy Uptake Programme (GreenUP) of the European Union (EU), funded under the 11th European Development Fund (EDF). GreenUP and CoCoDev contribute to the Uganda Green Growth Development Strategy (UGGDS). CoCoDev is implemented by the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) following a Multi-Annual Programme Estimate (MAPE)—FED/2021/430-533 with a value of UGX 25.5 billion (Euro 6.38 million).

CoCoDev has three main result areas: 

Supporting, strengthening and implementing Coffee and Cocoa Policy and regulatory framework 

Enhancing Commercial coffee and cocoa production and productivity 

Reducing Post-harvest losses, improving quality and marketing opportunities for coffee and Cocoa products

The CoCoDev PMU is grateful for the untiring support of the UCDA central office, the UCDA regional teams, the NAO, and the EU.