SEATINI Uganda Launches the Fair for All Project in Mbale and Mubende Districts
SEATINI- Uganda with support from European Union under a consortium of partners in Africa are implementing a “FAIR FOR ALL” project also code-named “POWER OF VOICES PROJECT” in Uganda. As part of the inception of the Fair for All project in Mbale and Mubende districts, SEATINI Uganda together with partners at the sub-national level undertook a series of activities with an aim of strengthening Civil Society organisations’ capacity to create space and mobilize demands of small-scale producers for them to contribute to more inclusive and sustainable agribusiness value-chains that respect rights and promote women’s economic empowerment in Uganda.
The inception activities included community awareness sessions, trainings for community monitors, multi-stakeholder dialogue in Mubende and Mbale so as to engage with the actors in the coffee value chains including Private sector, CSOs, political actors and workers.
SEATINI Uganda together with partners held community dialogues for coffee farmers and CSOs towards obtaining farmers’ experiences across the Coffee value chain. The dialogues were also geared towards sensitizing different stakeholders for them to understand and appreciate their roles in the project implementation particularly in improving the Coffee Value Chains in Uganda.
Some of the challenges cited out during the field visits included;
• Fluctuating prices of coffee and other agricultural products that affect farmers’ profit margins.
• Some cooperatives take coffee on credit and do not pay the farmers in time, yet the garden needs to be maintained so that more coffee can be harvested.
• Poor Coffee species more especially the inherited farms.
• Climate change and weather changes affect the quality and quantity of the coffee
• Women are still marginalized in the coffee value chain. This was observed in most communities.
• Limited knowledge on the appropriate pesticides to be applied on coffee to fight pests.
• Poor harvesting practices and post handling methods.
