Paying a fair price is not the only way how we make impact in the origin. We give education and advice to coffee farmers and their families. Together with our ambassadors, we invest in social projects as well. We help farmers to improve the quality of coffee, to reduce waste of coffee berries and to harvest in a sustainable way.
Quality project Uganda
Coffee cherries are picked manually and must be harvested at exactly the right time. Unripe or overripe picked cherries cannot be processed into specialty coffee. During the harvest in Uganda we saw that pickers were handing in cherries that were too (un)ripe and this resulted in a rejection of almost 40% of the berries. Bonnie trained the farmers and pickers and gave them a red bracelet, which matched the color of a ripe cherry. By teaching the farmers that they should only pick those cherries, we saw the waste drop to 10% – 15% within a few days.
Purchase of land for Kilembe
With the help of RVO Nederland, we were able to set up a fund for the Bukonzo Joint cooperative in Uganda. This allows the cooperative to finance various projects. In September 2019 we helped with the first project: the purchase of a piece of land for the Kilembe washing station. This extra piece of land enabled the coffee plantation to expand. At the social return days during our Uganda trip, we rolled up our sleeves and helped build the shed for the drying beds together with our guests. In addition, we attached shading nets to the the drying beds. This way the coffee beans are not exposed to the full sun and the coffee beans can dry evenly.
Collecting school supplies
Unfortunately, there are not enough public schools in Uganda. Additional private schools have been established to give children an opportunity to benefit from an education. Parents have to pay a school fee for this. This fee can be paid once the harvest has been completed so that the children can go to school all year round. Every year we collect school supplies to support these schools and children. We do this with our ambassadors, travel guests and other involved parties. So if you have any items at home or at the office that you would like to donate to children in Uganda? Please contact us and we will make sure it ends up in the right place!
Sponsoring humidity meters
In 2018, one of our PwC ambassadors traveled with us to Uganda. She ensured that PwC sponsored a number of humidity meters. These humidity meters are used at the washing stations to check whether the coffee is dry enough to be processed. This increases the quality of the coffee beans and contributes to an even better price for the coffee farmers.
Support Ethiopian coffee families
Purchasing green coffee from Betta Buna will end poverty and inequality in Ethiopian coffee communities. Coffee farmers are trained here and provided with inputs to increase their yields. Coffee families sell their coffee cherries to Bette Buna community stations and earn a better income, gain access to micro loans and savings tools. Talented young people in the community are given the opportunity to start their own social enterprise to tackle poverty and inequality.
