Background and Project Goals

The idea for the Bariguna coffee project was developed in 2020 after many years of work and life as a UN staff in East Africa. The experiences in Uganda and South Sudan, among other countries, were the background for an effort aimed at working with producers in rural, often isolated areas building on their own resources. An engagement in South Sudan was originally planned, but had to be abandoned because of insecurity in rural areas since the outbreak of the third civil war in 2013. Uganda being the second home of my family, it was the obvious alternative choice to establishing our project.

The main goal of the project is to work closely with small farmers and producers and encourage them to improve their farm management, harvest and post-harvest management processes in order to qualify for the international specialty coffee market. Thus, the producers will maximize their benefits on the basis of the same resources at their disposal, namely their land and coffee farms. In addition, many buyers in the specialty coffee market are also committed to transparency and fairness in the value chain and offer support to producers, through premiums or otherwise. In this perspective, a partnership with one importer and an international environmental NGO was established.