The Effectiveness of Coffee Cooperative Unions and Coffee Value Chain Performance :

Abstract

The study investigated the effectiveness of coffee cooperative unions on improving coffee value chain performance in greater Bushenyi district. It was limited to; identifying the role of value chain actors and coffee cooperative unions on enhancing coffee value chain performance in the study area, analyzing factors influencing the effectiveness of coffee cooperative unions in improving the coffee value chain performance and examine the effect of coffee cooperative unions on coffee value chain performance. The study employed a cross-sectional research design and primary data was collected from 208 respondents. The data was analysed using SPSS version 22.0. The study used questionnaires and interview guide to collect data. The study concludes that value chain actors and cooperative unions play a critical role in enhancing coffee value chain performance particularly training, quality enhancement, market access and input access lead to significant improvements in value chain performance. The study concludes that the effectiveness of coffee cooperative unions in improving coffee value chain performance is significantly influenced by access to financial resources, market accessibility, provision of quality inputs, collaboration with value chain actors, and strong member engagement. The study concludes that market linkage, input support, training access, and credit services all have a statistically significant positive effect on performance, with market linkage having the strongest impact. The study recommends that; cooperative unions should foster transparency, democratic governance, regular meetings, and inclusive decision-making processes to encourage active member involvement, efforts should still be made to advocate for clear coffee sector policies, subsidies, and regulatory frameworks to create an enabling environment.