KAMPALA (Reuters) – Uganda’s coffee exports dropped 17 percent year-on-year in February, undercut by scant rains in some coffee growing areas, the state-run regulator Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) said.

The beans are one of Uganda’s major exports and a big earner of foreign exchange for the east African country which largely cultivates robusta variety.

Shipments in February totalled 323,828 60-kg bags of coffee, down from 390,677 bags exported in same month a year.

Reporting by Elias Biryabarema; Editing by George Obulutsa