Adjumani District Council has formally named a rare wild coffee indigenous to the Zoka Central Forest Reserve as Zoka Coffee, in a resolution that conservationists say could focus international scientific attention on one of northern Uganda’s most ecologically significant forests. The decision followed a formal petition to the Council by Friends of Zoka, filed at the urging of the organisation’s chairman, Angelo Izama. The Council passed Resolution MIN: 07/OCM/07/05/2026 on 7 May 2026, directing technical departments, through the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer, to engage national authorities, the National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO), and civil society organisations including Friends of Zoka, to formalise the naming in line with national and international scientific and policy standards.
Adjumani District Council Resolution MIN: 07/OCM/07/05/2026 was passed on 7 May 2026 at an ordinary council meeting. It formally names and recognises the wild indigenous coffee found in the Zoka Central Forest Reserve as ZOKA COFFEE, and directs the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer to initiate engagement with national authorities, NARO, and relevant NGOs to formalise the naming in line with national and international scientific and policy standards.
“Zoka Forest has sheltered this coffee for millennia. Its name now dignifies its location and the heritage of the Ma’adi community. This is long overdue.” – Angelo Izama, Chairman, Friends of Zoka
Wild coffee species have become a priority for researchers as climate change threatens the commercial varieties — Arabica and Robusta — that underpin a global industry valued at more than $460 billion. Scientists are urgently documenting wild relatives whose genetic traits, including drought tolerance, disease resistance, and flavour complexity, may be critical to the crop’s survival. The Zoka Central Forest Reserve, a closed-canopy tropical reserve in Adjumani District, has been identified as a potentially significant repository of such genetic diversity. The resolution sets the stage for peer-reviewed botanical classification and potential listing under international biodiversity frameworks. For communities living adjacent to the reserve, formalised recognition also creates a foundation for geographical indication protections, eco-tourism, and sustainable livelihoods tied to conservation rather than to encroachment.
“Naming Zoka Coffee focuses scientific attention on the forest, creates an identity that conservation can rally around, and gives local communities a direct stake in protecting what grows there. The Council’s resolution turns a conservation argument into public policy.”-Amanzuru William LESLIE, Team Leader, Friends of Zoka
Zoka Central Forest Reserve is a closed-canopy tropical forest located in Adjumani District, northern Uganda. It is among the most ecologically significant forests in the West Nile sub-region and is home to diverse flora and fauna, including the wild coffee variety now designated ZOKA COFFEE. The reserve is under threat from illegal logging, agricultural encroachment, and charcoal burning.Wild coffee species and sub-species are considered a critical genetic reservoir. Research institutions including the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew have identified the documentation and protection of wild African coffee as a global conservation priority. Uganda is home to several indigenous wild coffee species, but systematic classification of varieties such as ZOKA COFFEE remains at an early stage.
The resolution marks the most significant civic and policy milestone in the history of Friends of Zoka, which this year celebrates a decade of working to protect the reserve from illegal logging, agricultural encroachment, and charcoal burning. The organisation is calling on government ministries, research institutions, international conservation bodies, and the global specialty coffee industry to support formalisation of the naming and to invest in the long-term protection of the Zoka Central Forest Reserve.
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