Background
Rwandaro Coffee Farmers Cooperative Society Ltd. is a rural producer organization of 1,740 coffee farmers whose mission is to promote members’ livelihoods and household income through improved farming practices, marketing, crop financing, bulking, and export. Founded as a farmer group in 2016, the cooperative now holds permanent registration under Ugandan laws. Its production area is in Rubirizi District, neighboring the Queen Elizabeth National Park at the edge of the Western Rift Valley in southwestern Uganda. The cooperative produces both Arabica and Robusta coffees on fertile volcanic hills and sharp valleys where farmer members derive their livelihood. Here is a map of individual members’ geographical locations:
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=119AyJDmrQ_vUyaTNvSwI52_rVh
0.2710132234938628%2C30.08508167000001&z=13
The Challenge
Despite producing the highest volume of Arabica and Robusta coffee in the district, with an average cupping score of 87%, the cooperative’s limited technology for processing dry cherries and parchment limited its coffee production and quality. Since its inception in 2016, the cooperative has been using a low-performance old coffee huller, which compromised production speed and the quality of the product and henceforth fetched a lower price in the market. The machine not only hindered the farmers’ ability to process coffee and generate revenue but also processed the coffee with broken beans and waste material, leading to a lower coffee output. Once the quality deteriorates, buyers will either purchase this coffee at a reduced price or refrain from purchasing it altogether.
Furthermore, because of inadequate working capital to purchase farmers’ coffee throughout the coffee season, the cooperative could only buy a small fraction of the total farmers’ produce. Middlemen took over the remaining balance, offering farmers meager prices. As a result, coffee farmers suffered income losses. Not only were the farmers frustrated and demoralized, but this had a huge, negative impact on their livelihood and coffee production.
USADF Intervenes with Solutions
In 2022, the cooperative received a grant of UGX 870,053,200 from the United States African Development Foundation (USADF) to improve the standard of living and economic welfare of farmers. Among others, the grant was used to upgrade the coffee factory building, purchase and install a complete coffee processing plant, and improve management and financial and institutional capacity through the provision of working capital and financial system upgrades, as well as training in cooperative governance and financial management.
Coffee factory upgrade
Using support from USADF, the cooperative expanded its geographical reach and upgraded the old factory to a new one with new coffee grading equipment. This new factory produces high-quality export-grade coffee, resulting in higher revenues for the farmers.
The equipment allows the cooperative to produce high-quality coffee, attracting buyers’ higher prices, thereby boosting earnings and improving farmers’ livelihoods. This will lead to an increase in the per capita income of farmers, as they will be able to sell better-quality coffee collectively at higher prices. Increased earnings will be a big pull factor for coffee production and productivity. Farmers will produce better-quality coffee as a result of increased earnings, affordability to procure extension services, and good-quality agricultural inputs.
0.3 Community Reinvestment Grant (CRG)
As a result of the grant from the United States African Development Fund (USADF), the cooperative donated UGX 43,503,000 to support the extension of clean piped water to three water-stressed communities. Occasionally, water shortages led to women and children drowning while fetching water from crater lakes and others exposing themselves to water-borne diseases like bilharzia, typhoid, cholera, and diarrhea because of stagnant, dirty waters.
People can now access safe and clean water within less than a kilometer of their homes, thanks to the successful implementation of the project. As reported in previous years, the community has not experienced any cases of drowning in the lake or cholera attacks to date. There is a general improvement in living conditions, as life has become more bearable.
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