A New Coffee Farmers’ Cooperative Launched in Masindi

A new coffee farmers’ cooperative society has been launched in Masindi district, to provide technical skills and find a market for farmers.

Bwijanga Coffee Farmers’ Cooperative Society will also provide modern agricultural services and financial assistance to its members at affordable prices.

The cooperative society is mainly focusing on coffee growing. So far, it has 100 members.

“As a cooperative, we believe that we shall now have bargaining power and we shall not embrace the services of middlemen,” said Benedicto Ssensaga, the chairperson of the cooperative society.

The coffee farmers point to the presence of middlemen as one of the biggest hurdles to getting reasonable prices for coffee and achieving quality. The middlemen offer low prices to farmers and mix dried berries with unripe and poorly dried berries.

According to Ssensaga, Bwijanga Coffee Farmers’ Cooperative Society long term plan is to own a processing plant, which will help them add value to their coffee.

While launching the cooperative society, the State Minister for Bunyoro Affairs Ernest Kiiza urged farmers to focus on commercial agriculture in order to improve their household income.

“The government is encouraging coffee farming because it has a high demand for the international market. The government target is to export 20 million bags of coffee annually in a few years to come, therefore, take advantage of this opportunity,” Kiiza said.

Bwijanga Coffee Farmers’ Cooperative Society was registered in August.