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SustainabilityasaKey
Survival issue,NotanOption
A
t Kawacom, we believe that sustainability is a key Survival issue for coffee production
and a long term relationship with producers means everything to a company specialized
in bringing coffee from all coffee producing areas all over the country because farmers’
viability is the only way to guarantee long term supply and quality. Our approach is not simply
about corporate social responsibility; sustainability is a requirement, not an option.
ECOM East Africa has therefore embarked on creating viable Small-holder based coffee farming
systems through the The Sustainable and Secure Smallholder Systems at Scale (4S@Scale)
program, aPublic-Private-Partnership (PPP) that has a five yearmandateand is supportedby the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of theNetherlands, Hivos, EcomAgroindustrial Corp. Ltd; KAWACOM
Uganda Limited (Uganda), SustainableManagement Services (Kenya) and Tutunze Kahawa Ltd
(Tanzania); KenyaNational Farmers Federation – KENAFF (Kenya), Biogas Solutions Uganda Ltd
(Uganda) andCARMATEC (Tanzania).
The programme is targeting 20,000 farmers in four Kawacom Sustainable projects of Bushenyi
andKasese in theWest, Kiboga inCentral region andSipi-Kapchorwa in the East of the country.
Ugandaoffers theprogrammenewopportunities, as farmers in the country sell the coffeedirectly
to themarket, unlike in Kenya that has awell-established co-operative sector that buys farmers’
coffee. The targeted farmers will not only get access to markets but also use of local Village
Savings and Loan Associations (VSLA) which will be used as vehicles to access credit. VSLAs
acts as self-help saving groups and are popular across the country. We will also be giving the
farmers thechance to start usingbio-slurry from thebio-digesterson their crops either directly on
their coffee or as compost on other crops.
The programme commenced in Ugandawith Kawacom (U) Ltd on 1st of July 2014 and intends
toworkwith different players in the sector to ensure that coffee farmers get the best output from
their produce and the good reputation of Ugandan coffee ismaintained
Threekey conditionsmust bemet to reach that goal:
1.
The coffee supply must grow structurally in terms of volume and quality to enable the
entire sector to operate profitably. This requires large-scale interventions that will contribute
substantially to growth for the whole sector, and that can stand as model for even wider
adaptation and adoption.
2.
Themain supplybase – smallholder coffee farmmust becomea viablebusiness for each
individual farm household as well as for the individual members (men/women/youth) within
the household, if they are to be willing to invest effort and resources in coffee as a major
component of their whole farm livelihood strategy.
3.
Smallholder farmers are critically dependent on external support services to achieve
viability. These services must in turn be made viable to allow commercial mechanisms to
ensure ongoing smallholder support.
