Growing Together: Empowering Farmers While Enhancing Coffee Quality
Our approach to farming is simple yet powerful. We teach every farmer to see each tree as an investment. This way, they treat their farms like a business, not just a hobby. This change in thinking helps them earn more, lifting their families out of poverty.
We also believe in bringing families together through coffee farming. We encourage our farmers to involve their wives and children, turning their farms into family businesses. This way, everyone has a say and a part to play, which makes for better planning and happier homes.
Training in good farming practices
We've put our hearts into helping young people and women. We've focused on training over 10,000 farmers in good farming practices and better post-harvest handling to improve yields. This includes skills like timely pruning of coffee trees, integrated pest management, and effective coffee stumping. These practices help increase the yield and quality of coffee our farmers produce.
We also teach them business skills and show them how to make the most of the coffee value chain. This isn't just training; it's opening doors to new opportunities.
Learning by seeing
We've also set up demonstration plots where farmers can learn by seeing. With three large plots run by us and 62 managed by lead farmers in Masaka, Mpigi, and Kyankwanzi, these plots are practical classrooms for our farmers. They can replicate what they learn here in their own gardens.
Shifting gender norms in coffee farming
Coffee is mainly a male-centered business in Uganda. This implies that the man has ownership over the coffee garden and its earnings, and if he has more land, the other crops are for the woman. We believe that youth and women play a bigger and more important role within the value chain, and their involvement is paramount to the industry and growth of the communities.
We have realised that when farmers work as a family business, with wives working alongside their husbands and children, they achieve better incomes and planning and it makes for a more sustainable model overall. As an organisation, we hire women, and out of our 9,147 farmers, 3,144 are women, and about 1,000 are youth.
Elevating Lives Beyond the Poverty Edge
Our approach, rooted in integrity, embodies our commitment to empowering farmers and fostering sustainable growth.
Using the village agent model, we engage model farmers and agronomists to provide effective support. Farmers averaging at 1 acre yield about 1.3MT of green coffee with diverse flavour profiles.
Noteworthy Achievements
We've generated profits that have enabled us to invest in assets such as land and buildings, with plans to acquire our grading plant.
Currently, we directly engage with over 12,000 farmers across various districts, significantly impacting their livelihoods and agricultural practices.
Our involvement in organisations like the Uganda Quality Coffee Traders and Processors Association highlights our commitment to improving coffee quality in Uganda.
Through initiatives like the "Grow More Coffee" campaign, we aim to expand our reach and become a leading coffee processor in Uganda and the East African region.
Inclusion in Action: The Edge's Impact on Disabled Individuals
Our commitment to working with and including disabled individuals holds significant importance, especially in light of global and Ugandan statistics highlighting the challenges faced by people with disabilities. Approximately 1.3 billion people, or 16% of the global population, face significant disability challenges. In Uganda, 12.4% of individuals aged 5 and above experience disabilities, with prevalent issues including visual, memory, walking, and hearing difficulties.
Alarming statistics from a 2017 survey reveal that 47% of disabled individuals are vulnerable to violence, with high rates of abuse among disabled girls and women. Despite efforts, only 1.3% of formal sector jobs are held by people with disabilities.
These figures emphasise the significance of initiatives like ours, which not only support disabled individuals but also recognise their capability and productivity. By providing opportunities for disabled individuals to join the workforce, we foster inclusivity and address the challenges faced by this marginalised group.
Nambasa Grant's Story (A Disabled Worker at the Dry Mill in Mpigi)
In 2021, while we were still renting services at the former Coffee Marketing Board, Nambasa Grant joined our casual team with his deaf brother. They worked with us for some time before returning to their village. Around August-September 2023, Grant saw Mr. Amos on the road and reached out to him via WhatsApp for a job opportunity. Despite communication challenges, we arranged for Grant to work in Mpigi. Initially uncertain if he would stay, Grant has now been with us for over 9 months. He resides at the farm and has become a valued member of our team.
Grant's impact and contribution to our team has inspired us to further our inclusive employment practices, and we have since recruited more deaf individuals.
Our workforce comprises of young individuals because coffee farming requires mobility and hard work. We consider our employees as family; during harvest season, they mill coffee, and during the off-season, they assist on the coffee farms.
The processing centre does not discriminate in employment, and we are committed to inclusivity. We welcome anyone willing to work hard and become part of our family.