Upstream innovation leakage in Uganda’s coffee planting material pipeline

Policies and institutions shape the incentives that influence innovation, technology adoption and productivity. We characterise the robusta coffee planting material pipeline in Uganda that connects upstream innovation in improved germplasm to downstream coffee producers. A nationally representative survey of coffee nursery operators reveals poor and heterogeneous production practices, potentially reflecting shifting policy priorities. The majority of smallholder coffee farmers consequently get inferior, disease-prone seedlings—thereby locking in decades of continued low productivity. Given Uganda’s ambition to drastically increase coffee production, detecting, understanding and addressing these problems should be a top priority as a prerequisite to effective agricultural policy and enhanced productivity.