Overview:
Entrust has supported the establishment of a coffee cooperative since 2016-7 amongst the very poor and remote villages of Mt Elgon, in eastern Uganda. Building on the success of five seasons of coffee planting, production and export, and having supported an expansion of their infrastructure to further grow capacity, we are turning our focus to providing intensive training for the 1500+ farmers and their families, together with some infrastructure to further expand the project. Our partners will invest in stumping and pruning training, more coffee and shade trees, tools and organic fertiliser training with the aim of increasing farmers’ coffee yields and quality and improving productivity and land cultivation practices.
What we like about it:
Our partners have worked in community development in this area for over a decade and are empowering farmers to move from a hand-out model to an empowerment mindset. The benefit to the local community is huge with farmers receiving a good wage for their coffee beans and a bonus during the “hungry season”. The coffee project has great momentum and continues to consolidate and expand. Sales of world-class coffee around the world (UK, USA, Australia, South Korea) and in Uganda are growing. With 10,000 people benefitting, it shows that empowerment of local people is priceless!
Budget: $70,000 for a one year project
The Need:
Since the brutal leadership of Idi Amin in the 1970s, Uganda has suffered the devastating effects of civil war, HIV/AIDS and rebel conflict, claiming the lives of the parents of more than two million children. The Mbale region is poor. Farmers have previously grown coffee and have been left with little for their efforts due to unfair business practices and corruption. Many are subsistence farmers, and most suffer from a “hungry season” when food is scarce. Intergenerational poverty is the norm.
Life Change:
