About This Coffee
Bugisu is a name for washed Arabica coffee produced in Eastern Uganda. Produced on the volcanic slopes of Mt. Elgon, Bugisu is in high demand for its winey, fruity, traditionally East African cupping notes. This lot is also IMPACT verified, ensuring the highest social and environmental standards are upheld during production.
Cultivation
The farm structure in Uganda is similar to Ethiopia and Kenya. Since 85% of all coffee grown is cultivated by smallholders with fewer than 2.5 hectares, Uganda has an immense potential to produce high-quality, small-lot specialty coffees.
Most producers are small and cultivate fewer than 2.5 hectares. Like Ethiopia, Ugandan smallholders typically intercrop their coffee with traditional food crops. Banana trees provide both shade for coffee trees and food for families.
This supply chain's IMPACT verification also ensures that coffee is farmed in an environmentally sustainable way, with an eye towards preserving biodiversity, limited application of chemical fertilizers and pesticides and assurance that farmers have been trained in Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs).
Coffee flowers an average of twice per year. Yields remain low due to a lack of inputs and knowledge on proper growing practices.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
Due to their small size, almost all labor is done by the family. Farming families selectively handpick ripe cherry and pulp it with hand pulpers. New initiatives are underway to make eco-friendly integrated pulping systems more widely available. Coffee is fermented and then washed in clean water. Parchment is then laid to dry on patios or raised beds.
AA Grade
In Uganda, AA refers to both bean size and quality. AA means that 90% of the beans in a lot are above screen 17, or 6.75 millimeters. AA also means that there is a 5% defect tolerance.
Coffee in Uganda
Uganda is the native home to one species of Robusta, and commercial coffee production in the country goes back to the beginning of the 20th century.
Our partner, UGACOF/Sucafina Uganda is committed to improving quality in Uganda by building new washing stations and infrastructure and training personnel in the region. Collaborations with our FarmerHub program and our sustainability partner, the Kahawatu Foundation, are building upon our work to expand farmers’ access to better resources and better training. Our connections to our more established operations in nearby Rwanda, Burundi and Kenya offer us advice and a perspective steeped in a familiarity with East Africa.
The bulk of our work in Uganda is focused in the West, near the Rwenzori Mountains. The biggest difference between East (Mount Elgon) and West (Rwenzori) is that Mount Elgon is a more established and competitive market. We are excited to be at the forefront of the drive for enhancing coffee production infrastructure, developing the industry and becoming reliable partners for farmers in the Rwenzori Mountain region.
It is clear to us that the potential in this region might exceed our expectations and even the potential of the popular Mount Elgon region. With an ever-growing demand for high quality Arabicas and a sustained interest from roasters and coffee drinkers in the East African origins, we are very confident that, with diligence and effort, Western Ugandan coffees will be able to take their place alongside the other great East African coffees.