KAMPALA: Uganda’s coffee exports fell 13.7 percent in August from a year earlier, as a prolonged drought reduced the harvest in some areas, a report and an industry player said.

Coffee, alongside gold, are the east African country’s largest foreign exchange earners while Uganda is also Africa’s largest coffee exporter.

Uganda shipped a total of 737,766 60-kilogram bags in August compared to 855,441 bags exported in the same period last year, according to a report by the agriculture ministry shared with Reuters on Thursday.

The report did not give a reason for the drop in exports but an industry player told Reuters a prolonged drought blighted coffee trees in some parts of the country and depressed harvests.

In terms of value, August exports earned the country $181.7 million, down 11.6 percent from earnings in the corresponding month a year ago, the report showed.