Barista Magazine

JUN-JUL 2016

Serving People Serving Coffee Since 2005

Issue link: http://baristamagazine.epubxp.com/i/686001

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 32 of 91

U G A N D A AT 7 A.M., I WAKE TO the singing of wildlife, cadenced by the rhythm of traditional drums in the small southwestern town of Kanungu, Uganda. As any coffee buyer or traveler will tell you, East Africa is spectacular. The sights, smells, culture, and interactions you encounter outside of the major cities are unparalleled. Kanungu is no different, and is possibly my favorite destination that my work brings me to year after year. The village is nestled between Queen Elizabeth National Park (one of two places in the world with tree-climbing lions) and Bwindi Impen- etrable National Park (home to nearly half of the world's population of wild mountain gorillas). Kanungu is magical for its proximity to wild- life and its culture, but my reason for being here is a coffee project, one that has been four years in the making. Some context: In 2012, I received a call from Gerald Mbabazi. He explained to me that he was from a small village in the southwest- ern part of Uganda and was involved in many social projects there, such as providing clean water and schooling. He was finishing college at California State University at Stanislaus, in Turlock, Calif.—about 90 miles from Sacramento, where I live—and had an interest in empowering coffee growers in Uganda. "Sounds great!" I thought. Well, in retrospect, it sounds great if you haven't yet grasped the level of work that will go into it. We agreed to meet and discuss options. Gerald explained to me that the coffee farmers of Kanungu were akin to many of the farmers in East Africa: They were garden farmers with between 1/4 and 1 acre of land—maybe 1 hectare if they were ex- tremely lucky—and they were selling their coffee, dried or cherry, to middlemen. According to Gerald, Kanungu had never exported coffee labeled as Kanungu, and most of the farmers were receiving about 3–5 cents per pound of cherry. Five cents per pound of cherry is nothing— even by Ugandan standards. Gerald told me he loved Kanungu, the village he grew up in. Howev- er, he knew that the majority of people in the area grew coffee as their main cash crop and were poverty-stricken because of it. He believed both in his people and the idea that good quality coffee did exist in Ka- nungu. Gerald wanted to build a mill and organize the village to create and export specialty-grade coffee. I explained how difficult this would be. Gerald was not a coffee expert, and he had virtually no experience in the coffee industry. I said that he would need massive amounts of capital to build a wet and dry mill, and I added that even after that was finished, there was a significant chance that the coffee just wouldn't be good enough to reach specialty grade. I provided all of the most grim information I could; I was attempting to change his mind. Gerald, however, wouldn't be swayed. It was as if everything I said got him Opposite page, at top: Long commercial boats on Lake Victoria in Nakiwogo village, most likely used to transport wood across the lake. Below: Arinaitwe Levi, aka "Kiseveni-our," who is the child of Gorilla Summit's night security guard at the Gorilla Summit Washing Station. This page: David Kashari, Gorilla Summit's production manager, picking cherry in Rugyeyo. 33 www.baristamagazine.com

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

view archives of Barista Magazine - JUN-JUL 2016
Subscribe to email alerts