What it takes to produce good quality coffee for export markets
To achieve Fairtrade or UTZ certification, the environment in which the coffee is grown as well as the welfare of the farmers, is considered. Photo by Michael J. Ssali.
What you need to know:
To compete on the world market, coffee exports from Uganda has to meet set specifications and standards. There are stages it has to go through from the field to the cup.
The quality of a product plays an important part in determining its market price and it may attract or repel buyers. A farmer who is keen on earning profit must endeavour to have good quality products. This is one of the main reasons why coffee farmers in Bukomansimbi District formed Kibinge Coffee Farmers Cooperative Society.
As people engaged in the production of the same crop they united to coordinate coffee farming activities in Kibinge Sub-county to improve the quantity and quality of coffee that they produce. There are about 2,000 members, of whom about 800 are Fair Trade and UTZ certified.
Quality
These 800 farmers sell their coffee directly to overseas buyers and they enjoy higher profits, according to the chairman, Mr Dan Willy Kibonde. Fair Trade certification ensures that both buyers and sellers get equitable profits, that honesty is observed at all trade levels and that the coffee is of good quality, among other concerns.
UTZ certification means that the crop production process meets international food safety standards and is of good quality.
To ensure that such high production standards are met, the farmers have to follow certain quality control measures, which, for example, forbid drying coffee berries on bare ground.
The farmer must dry the coffee on a mat or on tarpaulin. Only red ripe coffee must be harvested and it has to be well-dried (up to moisture 12 or 13). The cooperative employs a fulltime Internal Control System Coordinator to ensure that all these requirements are met by the farmers.
The farmers are divided into 12 Promoter Farmer Coffee Villages (or zones) for easier supervision and coordination. There is an agricultural extension service provider who regularly trains farmers in good agronomical practices such as how to use organic manure in their coffee gardens.
She inspects the application of soil preservation measures and the safe use of agricultural chemicals. There are well-trained personnel in the application of herbicides and pesticides and these are the ones to be hired by any farmer. They know how to dispose of the empty containers and how to safely store whatever is not used. In every zone, there is a store for keeping the pesticides and herbicides.
Transparency
“They are well marked and there is no possibility of a farmer’s pesticide or herbicide being used on the farm of another farmer,” Kibonde said. “The idea for well controlled use of agrochemicals is not only to protect the consumer but also to safeguard the farmer from the harmful side effects of mishandling of the chemicals.”
Gender equity is another important factor that is emphasised. All family members own the crop and are accountable for whatever happens to it.
There has to be transparency with regard to how the income from the crop is utilised. This makes everybody in the home protective of the crop.
Kibinge Coffee Farmers’ Cooperative Society started in 1995 as a farmers’ association and became a cooperative society in 2009.
“We stress total observation of good hygiene and sanitation in every coffee growing household, insisting for example on such issues as well-maintained toilets, clean coffee stores, and well-ventilated houses,” said Mr Elegius Kiyimba, the Treasurer. “We don’t even tolerate smoking in all our coffee stores.”
Their preferred FAQ (Fair Average Quality known as Kase in Luganda) bean size is screen 17 (and above) of well-dried Robusta coffee.
To achieve this, all the farmers are encouraged to grow cloned Robusta coffee.
“To ensure that our farmers have good planting material, we have our own coffee nurseries that have been certified by [Uganda Coffee Development Authority] where the farmers may obtain clean and strong plantlets,” Kibonde said pointing at a coffee nursery just outside their office at Kyabiri.
If out of all members, only 800 farmers are Fair Trade and UTZ certified, what happens to the coffee that the rest of the members produce and sell to the society?
Rewards
Kiyimba explained that it is their aim to make every farmer gain certification but the farmers have to accept the strict production practices first.
“We buy their coffee but we don’t sell it to our European buyers who are Daaruhower and Company in the Netherlands, and Sucafina in Switzerland. We have coffee traders in Kampala who accept that kind of coffee. The big advantage that the certified farmers have over the rest of the others is that apart from the society paying a higher price for their coffee they get a Fair Trade premium every year, which is some good money,” he explained.
To encourage good quality coffee production, at every Annual General Meeting, the cooperative awards prizes to the best performing farmers for crop cleanliness, environment friendly farming practices, household sanitation and a whole range of other good coffee quality concerns.
