Coffee project Luwero in Uganda
11 April 2011, Luwero Region, Uganda
Written with the collaboration of Stephanie Dreifuss, Deputy Country Director, Swisscontact Uganda
For the last two years, Progreso has been supporting a project in the Luwero Region executed by Swisscontact. As of February 2011, a total of 826 farmers have been registered for the UTZ/Organic certification, out of which 200 are women. A central nursery was established to provide the farmers with both coffee and non-coffee tree seedlings. Pilot Mavuno, a saving and lending group scheme, has successfully started and the farmers have fully embraced the concept.
Besides learning financial skills and being able to invest in coffee and new enterprises, the producer organizations now meet more often and regularly. To stimulate positive competition among farmers, an awards ceremony took place on April 11th where the best farmers in various categories (such as best female farmer, best contact farmer or best farmer in one of the Mavuno groups) were awarded with tarpaulins or gumboots. We will keep you informed about the winners on the Progreso Network website.