Socially Responsible Coffee
Helping 650 smallholder farmers in Mbale, Sironko, Kapchorwa and Manafwa grow quality Arabica coffee with regenerative farming, in partnership with We Wonder
The situation
Coffee is the main cash crop for many smallholder families on the slopes of Mt Elgon, in Mbale, Sironko, Kapchorwa and Manafwa districts. Many farmers lack the skills to raise and keep up the productivity and quality of their coffee, and middlemen take much of its value.
The hilly land loses soil and water with every heavy rain. Old coffee trees, worn-out soils and little shade lower yields and make farms less able to cope with a changing climate.
Women do much of the work in the coffee gardens, often with young children tied on their backs. This lowers what they can do in a day and puts children at risk of accidents.
A direct link to buyers
The farmers already sell to We Wonder, a company that buys, processes and exports coffee and works closely with farmers to improve quality. The project helps them put better methods into practice so they meet the quality standard and earn more.
Care for young children
Two to three community early childhood centres will give the young children of women coffee workers a safe place with trained caretakers, play and learning, and simple literacy and numeracy for children over four.
What are we doing?
Grow
Community nurseries raise certified SL14 Arabica seedlings, shade trees, live fences and cover crops, so every farmer has healthy planting material.
Train
40 Key Farmer Trainers and a demonstration farm in every group teach pruning, stumping, soil and water conservation, and making biochar, bokashi and compost, using the We Wonder Carbon Farming Handbook.
Certify
An internal quality control system, farm records and yearly inspections prepare farms for certification to a verified carbon standard.
Market
Registered farmer groups bulk and sell their coffee together, aiming for prices at least 10% above the local market.
Care
Community early childhood centres look after the young children of women coffee workers while their parents are in the gardens.
What will we achieve?
Over 36 months, the project aims to improve the livelihoods of smallholder coffee farmers and their families. We will report results here as the project progresses. We aim to see:
- 650 farmers and their families, some 3,900 people, earning more from coffee
- farmers following a code of good agricultural practices that improves the quality of their coffee
- healthier soils that hold more water and carbon, through regenerative farming
- coffee farms certified to a verified carbon standard
- farmer groups selling together at better prices, with less reliance on middlemen
- young children cared for safely while their mothers work
Our project partners
Funding and market partners
Technical partners
- Buginyanya Zonal Agricultural Research and Development Institute (certified seed)
Government partners
- District, sub-county and parish local governments in the project area
Community partners
- 40 farmer groups and their cooperative
