Uganda Mt Elgon
$43,948 needed of $125,000
Implementing Organization
Lutheran World Relief (LWR)
Program Summary
The focus of this program is on improving profitability at the farm level by addressing key on-farm issues, professionalizing coffee picking and standardizing coffee processing. Local partner Mountain Harvest has a goal of transforming Uganda’s coffee supply chain through a model that improves the quality of life for smallholder farmers and supports healthy and thriving natural ecosystems. Their approach emphasizes the need to boost productivity and improve profitability at the farm and enterprise levels. To achieve these benefits for farmers and communities, Mountain Harvest has developed an innovative service delivery model based on a deep understanding of smallholder farming systems as well as what influences local economies and farmer incomes.
Working with 1,000 farmers from the Mt. Elgon area of Uganda, the project focuses on increasing the quality and export price of Mountain Harvest’s coffee, enabling the company to pay farmers a price at least 20% higher than the prevailing farm gate price and to use the additional margin generated from higher prices to invest at the farm level, increasing farm productivity.
Uganda Mt. Elgon Program - Mountain Harvest Introduction
Uganda Mt. Elgon Program Update
Success Stories
Ensuring a Decent Living for Coffee Growers
In one of the poorest nations in the world, where coffee is the main agricultural export, competition can hurt the small grower. So local partner Mountain Harvest is dedicated to ensuring that the 1,000 coffee farmers in their program are not only able to grow high-quality Arabica coffee beans, but that they receive a fair market price for their superior product.
The men and women who participate in the program receive agricultural support and training and are improving profitability by professionalizing coffee picking, and standardizing their processing. Mountain Harvest and the farmers involved have a goal of nothing less than transforming Uganda’s coffee supply chain, enabling a more sustainable and higher-quality life for the farmers and maintaining healthy and thriving natural ecosystems.
So, after paying attention to every aspect of coffee growing for optimum results, all of the farmers have started additional activities to diversify their incomes and lower their risk of devastating coffee losses. Each one engages in any or all of the new enterprises: beekeeping, raising rabbits, or planting macadamia nut and avocado trees.
Because Mountain Harvest offers 10-20% above the customary market price for their top-quality coffee, participants are finding it easier to cover their families’ basic needs. They are able to put some of their earnings aside and plan for the future by supporting each other in Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLA).
And, given that women have traditionally been excluded from many of the infrastructure benefits available to men, farmer groups advocate for opportunities for female coffee growers.
Uganda Mt. Elgon Program
Led by Lutheran World Relief and Local Partner Mountain Harvest