Beetles threaten Ugandan coffee crop
ELIAS BIRYABAREMA SHRINKING forest cover and climate change threaten Uganda's coffee industry by creating conditions for the destructive black twig borer beetle to spread into plantations, according to an official. Africa's largest coffee exporter, Uganda mostly cultivates the robusta coffee bean variety. Shipments of the beans are a major source of foreign exchange. Exports in the 2015/16 (Oct-Sept) crop were expected to reach 3.6 million 60-kg bags, modestly higher than the previous period's 3.46 million bags, according to state regulator Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA). But David Muwonge, head of marketing at the National Union of Coffee Agribusiness and Farmer…