BUDUDA – To avoid being derailed by the weather changes, especially rains, Bushika Integrated Area Cooperative Enterprise Limited in Bududa district, plans to establish a greenhouse for coffee drying, its officials say.
Abner Wamboka Shedrach, the cooperative’s manager, says the rainy season makes it hard for farmers to dry the coffee beans and hopes the greenhouse when constructed, will be a blessing.
“The climate is a challenge. We want the establishment of a greenhouse so that we are able to dry our coffee even during the rainy season,” Wamboka said.
According to experts, a greenhouse protects the coffee from the occasional rains that fall during the harvest season, maintains a higher temperature because of the plastic roof, and allows air to flow underneath the suspended tables, enabling the coffee to dry.
However, Wamboka says although the cooperative has saved some money, it is not enough to establish the greenhouse.
On top of that, he says the cooperative does not have a coffee grader and roaster to ensure standards.
“We have been roasting coffee locally yet we need to meet international standards,” he said.
According to him, the cooperative engages all the farmers within Bududa district although he said they end to expand to other neighbouring districts, prompting different farming enterprises.
“We hope to go beyond Bududa district. The major enterprise is coffee but it is a seasonal crop. We had to incorporate other enterprises like dairy, beans, passion fruits and banana farming,” he said.
He said they have started producing soluble coffee, and organic fertiliser which they distribute to farmers.
Wamboka said the cooperative provides extension services in stamping of coffee trees, fertiliser application, post harvests handling, soil testing and sampling among others.
He however says they have limited working capital and labour, making it hard for the cooperative to expand its business.
“We want to buy the farmers’ produce on a cash basis but we don’t have enough capital and staff, he said, adding that they sometimes recruit volunteers to implement certain activities.
Bushika Integrated Area Cooperative Enterprise Limited commences operations in 2010, dealing with primary cooperative societies to improve people’s livelihoods by marketing their coffee.
The cooperative is impacting the community through financial empowerment and poverty alleviation as it recruits more members.
Wamboka said the cooperative is trading coffee internationally on fairtrade markets.
“Fairtrade has come with a number of benefits such as better pricing of coffee. We hope to certify other products which are being produced by the cooperatives,” he said.
Fairtrade International, with partners across the world, changes the way trade works through better prices, decent working conditions and a fairer deal for farmers and workers in developing countries.
Samuel Wakinya, the chairperson of the cooperative says it assists in marketing farmers’ coffee.
“This cooperative is a farmer-based cooperative owned, used and benefits the members. We had so many challenges, so we decided to form the cooperative,” he said, adding that the cooperative gives loans to its members at low interest rates.
He said farmers of the cooperative are being trained in value addition and modern farming. “We are handling the issue of value addition. We recruited a technical team to sensitise farmers on modern farming,” Wakinya says.
He adds that, “Our yield has increased. Previously a farmer was harvesting between 300 -500 grammes on average per coffee tree…. but now on average, a farmer is getting a kilo of coffee per tree.”
James Wanambwa, the General Manager of the cooperative said they have to improve the quality of the coffee if they are to receive a better price.
Patrick Kolya, a farmer who deals in coffee and honey said the cooperative has transformed the socio-econmic status of his household.
https://thecooperator.news/bwijanga-coffee-cooperative-targets-coffee-processing-machine/
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