Write for Us

Write for Uganda Coffee

Uganda Coffee has been online since the mid-2000s as a reference point for the country's coffee sector: the Robusta of the Lake Victoria crescent, the Arabica of Mount Elgon, the Rwenzoris and West Nile, the farmers and co-operatives who grow it, the exporters who move it and the indicative prices everyone watches. Our readers are growers, agronomists, exporters, roasters, buyers and development workers, plus the growing number of coffee drinkers who want to know where their cup comes from. If you have something useful to tell that audience, we would like you to write for us.

We accept guest posts from farmers and co-operative managers, agronomists and researchers, exporters and traders, roasters and baristas, and journalists who cover agriculture and trade in East Africa. You do not need to be a professional writer. You need first-hand knowledge and the willingness to explain it clearly.

What we publish

• Farming and agronomy: varieties, planting, shade, soil, pests and disease, wilt, harvesting, drying and post-harvest handling for Robusta and Arabica.
• Prices, markets and trade: indicative farm-gate and export prices, grading, quality standards, certification, contracts and the route from washing station to port.
• Co-operatives and rural livelihoods: farmer organisation, finance, youth and women in coffee, and the programmes that actually reach the farm.
• Processing, roasting and cupping: wet and dry processing, specialty lots, roast profiles and what Ugandan coffee tastes like when it is done well.
• Policy, climate and sustainability: regulation, land use, climate adaptation, agroforestry and the future of the sector.
• Coffee news and features: profiles of farms, regions, exporters and the people behind the crop.

Guest posts and sponsored articles

We publish two kinds of contributed content. A guest post is editorial written by someone who wants to share knowledge with our readers. A sponsored post is a paid placement commissioned by a company, usually an exporter, roaster, equipment supplier, certification body, NGO or agricultural service, that features its product or programme within a genuinely useful article. We accept both, and both must leave the reader better informed.

Our link policy is stated plainly. Every published article is permanent, indexed and carries dofollow editorial links to the author's organisation or to the sources cited. We do not remove articles later and we do not change links to nofollow after publication. Sponsored posts are labelled as sponsored where disclosure is required. Pricing for sponsored articles is available on request. Typical turnaround from acceptance to publication is three to five working days.

Guidelines

Please read these contributor guidelines before you submit an article.

• Original work only. The article must not have been published elsewhere, including on your organisation's website or social channels. We check.
• Minimum 800 words. Our most useful pieces run 1,000 to 1,500 words. Cover the subject properly rather than filling space.
• One or two relevant links in the body are welcome where they help the reader. Links to unrelated commercial pages are removed.
• No gambling, adult or pharmaceutical content. We also decline articles that make unsupported claims about prices, yields or health benefits.
• Be specific. Name the district, the variety, the price per kilo, the season. Our readers know the sector and will notice vagueness.
• An author bio of two or three sentences with one link is optional; for technical topics we recommend stating your role or qualification.
• We edit for house style, clarity and length. Substantive changes are agreed with you; small edits are made without consultation.
• Send drafts as a Google Doc link or a Word file. Photographs must be your own or properly licensed.

How to pitch

Email guestpost@ugandacoffee.org with the subject line "Guest post: [your topic]". Include a working title, two or three sentences on the angle and who it helps, and a line about who you are. If you are proposing a sponsored post, say so in the first line and tell us which company, product or programme the article will feature so we can confirm fit and send pricing. Finished drafts are welcome and are reviewed faster than pitches.

We reply to every pitch that follows the guidelines, usually within two working days. If a week passes with no answer, please resend in case the message was filtered.

Whether you want to write for us as a regular contributor, submit an article you have already drafted, or place a sponsored post in front of readers across the Ugandan and East African coffee trade, the address is guestpost@ugandacoffee.org.