Uganda, March 15 -- President Museveni has rallied Italian investors to his cause of value-addition to coffee by urging them to open factories in the country.

The President made the plea during a meeting at State House, Entebbe on Wednesday with the visiting delegation of the Italian overseas development agency, the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (IADC) led by its boss, Stefano Gatti.

"We now produce nine million bags of coffee and with irrigation, production will be more. We are moving although slower because of resources but once you come in, we shall move faster," the President was quoted as saying in a statement issued by State House.

Coffee, according to the UN's Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), is one of the ...