Strategies of Ugandan farmers facing coffee wilt disease

In Uganda, coffee wilt disease (CWD), caused by Fusarium xylarioides, has destroyed nearly 50% of the coffee plantations over the last 15 years. There is currently no effective treatment against this disease, which is continuing to spread. The coffee trees infected are destroyed in less than two years and more than 90% of Ugandan farms are contaminated. The threat is all the more serious since exported coffee represents the most important source of income for the country. Approximately three million smallholders depend on it for their livelihoods. Our research aims at understanding the reasons for maintaining this culture in the face of such a phytosanitary crisis. The results show that in spite of substantial losses caused by CWD, coffee remains the first source of income for small producers. After having diversified their activities to minimize risks, and even if the new seedlings are not disease-resistant, 100% of the farmers replant coffee. The rise in international coffee prices between 2002 and 2007 encouraged the farmers to replant. Coffee production being a national challenge, government and research institutions encourage farmers to maintain coffee production, notably through the distribution of free seedlings (although non-resistant). However, the favourable macroeconomic context alone does not explain the replanting of coffee trees. The analysis, carried out in this article at the socio-economic micro-level on the strategies of the farmers, indicates additional reasons. Coffee production is compatible with shade trees and association with food crops, which provide advantages at the plot scale as well as for family labour. Sale of the coffee crop provides decreasing monetary income but which still fulfils various functions in the household budget (regular income, insurance, retirement, etc.).