Bukonzo Organic Farmers Co-operative Union combines thirteen cooperatives and supports 4,100 smallholder farmers of which 41% are women. They grow sustainable coffee in Uganda’s Rwenzori region and they are committed to inclusivity, actively championing gender equality. 

In a country where 20.3% of the population lives in poverty and only 16% of land is owned by women there is much to do to address inequality. 

Shared Interest Society invests in traders to help them earn a way out of poverty. They lend money and also get involved in practical projects to support local communities. Last year they invested £42m in 47 countries and helped 417,979 individuals.

Shared Interest’s lending has been instrumental in Bukonzo’s growth. They use the funding to educate their coffee farmers on environmental sustainability through agroforestry and they’ve distributed 250,000 shade trees to farmers. Agroforestry protects the coffee plants from extreme heat and soil erosion from water runoff. 

Bukonzo also teaches climate friendly practices like agroforestry, trenching, mulching and supporting farmers to develop their own organic fertilisers from animal and plant waste. These ‘climate-smart’ activities increase soil resilience, improve coffee quality and maintain yields despite fluctuating rainfall in the region.

Farmer Beatrice intercrops bananas, yams and coffee on her two acre farm. She has seen her yields improve after implementing these practices and she was recognised for her ability to pick up new practices quickly. 

She is now a lead farmer at Bukonzo and provides training to others in the cooperative. She says “We women are created to be teachers so when you teach these men and women they feel comfortable. Even at times they will call me and say come and teach us”.

Beatrice has seen changes in the equality of coffee farming in Uganda. She told Shared Interest that when she first started farming it was a challenge for a woman to access land. She has been able to educate her children and she hopes that her grandchildren will follow in her footsteps, recognising that Bukonzo has made a difference in her life. 

Shared Interest has also funded projects to help farmers diversify into different crops and related activities like beekeeping. They offer farmers new revenue streams and help to mitigate the uncertainty caused by a volatile coffee market. 

Earning a fair price for their coffee has helped the community invest in water tanks and washrooms. They’ve funded washing stations for coffee processing and the co-ops employ women to sort the beans for quality purposes, providing them with employment. 

Co-operatives and unions like Bukonzo provide coffee farmers with a close knit community and the benefit of numbers. They provide individuals with the opportunity to improve their livelihoods and overcome poverty through training and support. 

When they make a commitment to inclusivity and equality, and actively include women in the programs or promote them to leadership they can begin to change ingrained cultural norms that favour men over women. 

Source Climate Change Coffee is proud to support organisations like this which educate and finance better lives for all. We are involved in a number of projects and our founder Cristina is a Non-Executive Director at Shared Interest.