Dry Beans

Product Name: Dried, shelled beans

Species / Varieties:

Disaggregated statistics indicate that Uganda exports substantial volumes of three (3) distinct types of dried beans;

• Phaseolus vulgaris – kidney beans (0713.33) - note that there are different types of the kidney beans including red (local name: gisenyi), red-speckled (local name: nambale), white speckled (local name: masavu) and white
• Vigna radiata – Green mung (0713.31)
• Vigna angularis (Phaseolus) – Adzuki beans (0713.32)

But, Uganda also exports a number of other varieties which are captured under product line 0713.39 (dried, shelled beans "Vigna and Phaseolus"). These include sugar beans (local name - masavu), pinto beans (local name - kanyebwa) and yellow beans. These are generally classified as common beans

Table 1: Dry Bean pictures (Source: Internet)

1.1    Product Use

Beans are a staple food in many communities around the world, but majorly in Africa. Beans are demanded and consumed because of their commendable nutritional attributes. They are an inexpensive source of both complex carbohydrates and protein, providing iron, magnesium, zinc, potassium and soluble fiber in high amounts. They are low in fat, low in sodium, cholesterol-free and rich in vitamins and minerals. For example, table 2 show a breakdown of nutritional value of kidney beans (Source: US Dry Bean Council).

Table 2: Nutritional value of kidney beans - Source: US Dry Beans Council

1.2    History of the Product

Beans are one of the longest-cultivated crops worldwide. Genetic analyses of the common bean “Phaseolus” show that it originated in Mesoamerica[i] and subsequently spread southward, along with maize and squash, traditional companion crops. (Elena Bitocchi, 2012 ). Most of the kinds commonly eaten fresh or dried, those of the genus Phaseolus, were first seen by a European when Christopher Columbus, during his exploration of what may have been the Bahamas, found them growing in fields.

2.     PRODUCTION & MARKETING

2.1    Production and Marketing in Uganda

Beans are one of sixteen (16) major food crops grown in Uganda (UCA 2008/09). By 2017, it is projected that area under beans production had expanded to 1,012,406 Hectares. Output is also projected to have grown, by 25 percent in 2017 alone, to over 1,000,000 tonnes according to UBOS. FAO estimate for 2017 is 1,024,742 tonnes a figure that is close to UBOS projection. Production statistics further indicate that Mubende, Mbale, Amuru and Ntungamo are the key beans producing districts in Uganda. However, this is a crop that this grown in virtually all districts of the country. As such reasonable quantities of the product can also be obtained from other districts including Arua, Nebbi and Lira in the North; Kabale, Kisoro, Masindi, Hoima, Kibaale, Bushenyi, Kamwenge and Kasese in the South-West; and Mbale, Sironko and Kapchorwa in the East.

The average unit land size under beans production ranged from 0.1 ha to 4 ha with an average of 0.4 hectares per household. Bean varieties are mainly identified by their commercial names and the main bean varieties including Nambale, Kanyebwa and yellow beans. The prices also differ accordingly. For example, a USAID-supported a market survey conducted in mid-2012 indicated that the yellow beans and K131, were retailing at UGX 2,050/Kg and UGX 1,957/Kg while Paiider, Kamwanyi and black beans were the least priced trading at UGX 1,000/Kg.

The bean value chain consists of input suppliers, producers, villager assemblers/middlemen, traders, processors and consumers. A USAID study on the beans value chain indicated that the producers sell approximately 69% of the beans to village collectors and brokers and 5% to institutional buyers like schools and WFP. The remaining 26% is retained for home consumptions and seed. Village collectors then sell all their beans to traders which include big traders in major trading towns. Thereafter, the big traders transport the beans to mass markets, institutional buyers, urban traders or exporters. Urban traders then sell to institutions or export to Kenya, South Sudan, Rwanda, DRC and Burundi.

3.2    Export Marketing

3.2.1  Government of Uganda Statutory Export requirements

To export beans out of Uganda, the statutory requirements are;

1. The exporting entity (firm or organization) must be duly incorporated in Uganda – by the Registrar General of Companies, and the Customs Authority – Uganda Revenue Authority (URA). The entity must therefore have been issued with a Company Registration Number and Tax Identification Number respectively.
2. For the export of beans, no special export permit or licenses is requirement – as a result of the trade liberalization policy. However, its important for the exporter to register with the Uganda Export Promotion Board should the importer, during the process of due diligence, seek for authentication from the government agency incharge of promoting exports
3. At the time of shipment, a consignment of beans leaving Uganda for any export market must be accompanied with an invoice (providing clear details about the products being exported), a phytosanitary certificate (issued by an Inspector from Ministry of Agriculture, Department of Crop Inspection and Certification after due inspection) and a General or Preferential Certificate of Origin issued by Uganda National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UNCCI) and URA respectively depending on the destination market

3.2.2  Export market-entry requirements

A.      Health, Food Safety and Phytosanitary requirements

Owing to the fact that dry beans are considered as an unprocessed (raw) agricultural product, any export consignment of the product must comply with the fundamental phytosanitary requirements such as free from pest and diseases (including pest damage), in appropriate physical condition for the intended purpose and meets the basic general standard, EAS 46:2011 for Uganda. Compliant products (or consignment) must be accompanied with a phytosanitary certificate as proof of inspection and hence conformity to the phytosanitary market-entry requirements. Additional requirements may be set by the buyer. The exporter is obliged to seek clarification from the buyer as consignments maybe rejected by the buyer on the basis of these, despite meeting the statutory requirements of the importing and exporting country

Table 3: Dry Beans Standard - EAS 46:2011

B.      Packaging

In accordance with the US/EAS standard:

• Food grade material, made of substance which do not impart any toxic substance or undesirable color or flavor. The commonly used packaging materials are jute and polypropylene bags
• EAC partner states are signatories to the International Labour Organization (ILO) and therefore enforce the maximum package weight of 50kg where human loading and offloading is involved

C.      Labelling

In accordance with the US/EAS standard:

• Each package must be legibly and indelibly labelled with the following information – variety, grade, name, address and location of producer/packer/exporters, declaration (Food for Human Consumption), storage instruction (such as store in cool and dry place), crop year, packaging date, instruction on disposal, country of origin and declaration whether the dry beans are genetically modified or not (GMO)

3.2.3  Global market trends

A.      Export trends & Uganda’s key export markets

Chart 1: Uganda's Dry Beans Export Trends (Source: Bank of Uganda)

Over the last 25 years (from 1994) formal beans export earnings have consistently grown at an annual average rate of 8.5 percent, from US$ 12.64 Million for 37,000 MT exported in 1994 to US$ 99.6 Million for 218,000 MT exported in 2018. The most significant growth however was in the 5-year period of 2014 - 2018 where export values grew from US$ 25.12 Million to US$99.6 Million. That was a 32 percent per annum growth over the 5-year period. These statistics indicate that less than 25 percent of Uganda’s beans are exported. Dry beans are also progressively overtaken maize as the most informally exported commodity at Uganda's borders. For example, in 2018 dry beans worth an estimated US$ 42.95 Million were traded informally, which more than double the value of maize exported informally in the same year.

Kenya still stands out the top destination of Uganda’s beans accounting for more than 70 percent of the country’s dry beans export earnings each year. That is over US$ 52 Million in 2017. But it is important to note that Uganda’s export markets for beans are continuously diversifying, below the EAC to overseas markets, especially India and the Middle East. See Table 5: Uganda's Top 10 Dry Beans Export Markets (Source: UN COM Trade database) There is commendable interest for Uganda’s kidney beans in these markets.

Table 4: Breakdown of Exports by bean varieties (Source: Trade Map)

Table 5: Uganda's Top 10 Dry Beans Export Markets (Source: UN COM Trade database)

B.    International Price Trends

C.    Competition Analysis and Market Forecast

As per 2017 export data, Uganda is the 11th largest exporter of dry beans worldwide and ranks 3rd after Ethiopia and Egypt in Africa. In Uganda’s top export market, Kenya, Uganda competes favorably against Ethiopia, France, Chile and Tanzania, the other key suppliers into that market. Uganda accounts for about 90 percent of Kenya’s formal dry beans exports in spite of the 40 percent average annual growth rate of Kenya’s demand over the last 5 years.  Similarly, Uganda is the market leader in South Sudan a market that is also supplied by Rwanda and Kenya.

The growth of Uganda’s formal dry bean export earnings from the regional markets is against growing exports to an overseas market of UAE, Pakistan, and India to mention but a few. This continued growth in demand in Kenya (40 percent per annum on average of the 5-year period) and South Sudan, particularly, present a positive market outlook for Uganda’s dry beans. Key however for Uganda, will remain the ability to sustain the growing demand vis-a-vie the lacking bulking and storage capacity and heavy reliance on smallholder producers practicing rain-fed agriculture. These producers are price sensitive and hence produce according to historical prices.   

[i] Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in North America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica, and within this region pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas.