Zebigi Women’s Empowerment, Uganda

This micro-lot was named by The Coffee Gardens to highlight their work on empowering women who make up 52% of their staff, 21% of the coffee farmers, and 66% of the savings group which teaches farmers about financial literacy, record-keepping, and leadership.

The Coffee Gardens  was established in 2017 with the goal of producing incredible specialty coffee in an ethical way, offering a transparent and direct link between coffee farmers and coffee consumers.

Farmers have coffee gardens of different sizes and so supply different amounts of coffee. Mr Nasimo Lawrance from Buwobodeya was a major contributor to this micro-lot with 148 KG of red ripe coffee cherries. Within hours of being picked, coffee cherries are carried down to our station in 50 kg bags by runners – a team of over 160 women and men employed from the local community. This coffee is pulped before undergoing their signature fermentation method involving a pre-wash, a long soak in cold mountain spring water, and then a gentle long fermentation lasting forty hours before a final wash. This coffee is meticulously sorted at 12 different stages before export.

 Micro-lots were assembled by combining day-lots (coffee processed on the same day) with similar taste profiles. Therefore, a single farmer may contribute to multiple micro-lots. The Coffee Gardens have been working with the farmers who produced this micro-lot for the past five years. They know each and every farming family as they live on the mountain about 600 metres above their washing station.

Last year, the farmers received training  on growing coffee amongst shade trees, good agricultural practices, and better harvesting techniques. In July, they received over 8,300 shade, fruit and fast growing tree seedlings. This year, training is continuing and they’re building toilet blocks for the three primary schools in the area, including Zebugu-Busi Primary School.