RUBANDA, October 8, 2026 — Rubanda Cooperative Society Limited in Rubanda district is using coffee seedlings to attract more farmers, particularly women and young people, as it seeks to expand its membership and improve livelihoods in the district.
The cooperative, which was established in 2022, has struggled to grow its membership, currently standing at only 156 members. It is now using coffee production as a vehicle to attract more farmers after sensitisation efforts highlighted the crop’s potential to improve household incomes.
The cooperative has launched a programme dubbed EYE-C — Empowering Youth and Women Entrepreneurs in Agriculture, Stimulated by Coffee — targeting women and young people.
The cooperative secured coffee seedlings through a partnership with ‘Omukazi W’omutima Organization’ [OWO], a local community-based organisation operating in Kanungu and Rubanda districts.
With support from the International Women in Coffee Alliance and aBi Trust, the five-year partnership seeks to integrate young women and youth into the commercial coffee value chain, increase household incomes and address youth unemployment in the Kigezi Sub-region.
Under the phased rollout strategy, Rubanda Cooperative Society will lead a nine-month pilot project in Rubanda and Mitooma districts before it is expanded to the wider Kigezi Sub-region.
The cooperative has also developed an operational framework covering the two districts, with community-based workers expected to help mobilise and recruit new members.
Bernard Mutungi, the cooperative’s Board Chairman, said the coffee seedling project was timely and would help the cooperative expand its membership and fulfil the vision of its founders.
“Our members have always wanted coffee but access was not forthcoming. Education about the crop is also lacking in our communities, but now we have the chance to have this and change our lives,” he said recently at Rubanda district headquarters.
Caleb Owomuhangi, the Rubanda District Commercial Officer, said the project would help empower women and youth, who he said were affected by high levels of poverty in the region.
He called for a coordination strategy to link the project with existing local structures, including micro and small enterprises [MSEs] clusters and cooperative clusters, to avoid duplication of SACCO networks serving the same beneficiaries and age groups.
“We should avoid creating new entities, but use the existing ones to empower our communities. Let the leadership of the available Savings and Credit Cooperative Organisations [SACCOs] address the members’ fears and do better,” Owomuhangi said.
Ezra Kajungu, the cooperative’s sustainability manager, said the pilot phase should be treated as an opportunity to test and refine systems that would enable the cooperative to expand and sustain its operations.
“Please consider this an opportunity to grow the cooperative, empower all your current members, but also learn to sustain business to change the livelihoods of the members,” he said.
Godwin Nkwasibwe, head of the district’s Marketing and Production Department, challenged the cooperative’s leadership to train farmers in good agricultural practices, promote the use of organic manure and educate them about international coffee accountability requirements.
The cooperative is placing particular emphasis on recruiting women and youth of productive age to increase its membership and strengthen its coffee production base.
According to data from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics [UBOS], youth unemployment in the Kigezi sub-region stands at 39 per cent, while teenage pregnancy is at 24 percent. The region also has a reported poverty rate of 29 percent.
Many young people and women in the region lack access to land for agricultural production, while large areas of land are occupied by tea plantations, further limiting opportunities for coffee production and other agricultural activities.
https://thecooperator.news/apple-farming-transforms-livelihoods-amid-growing-challenges-in-rubanda/
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