Chris Ahimbisibwe
3 November 2009
Kampala — When Jack Bigirwa died, coffee farmers in Bushenyi district thought it was the end of coffee farming and processing in the district.
Late Bigirwa had just started the installation of a wet coffee processing factory machines, which would relieve farmers of the task of drying coffee, as the factory processes fresh coffee beans. However, Bernard Bigirwa, his son, did not shatter the father's dream. Bigirwa is a software engineer working with Uganda telecom and has taken up the investment. The farmers in this part of the country now wear a smile as they sell their coffee beans straight from the garden.
Located about 1km off Mbarara-Kasese road near Nyamufumura trading centre, the factory, the only one of the kind in the region, only receives wet coffee.
It only takes 48 hours for the factory to dry coffee compared to other traditional methods where one would spend days. "Drying coffee was labourious and time consuming. It also affected the quality of coffee. Now it is just a matter of harvesting it and taking it directly to the factory," said Bazirio Muhumuza, a coffee farmer.
Muhumuza says the factory has encouraged them to resume growing coffee which they had abandoned.
"My father had a passion for coffee and I have to accomplish this by seeing farmers benefit from their coffee through payment for good quality coffee, above what they would ordinarily get," said Bigirwa, the managing director of the factory.
Among other tasks, Bigirwa brings together coffee farmers so that they have one voice for sustainability of the factory.
Over 700 coffee farmers have registered with the one-year-old factory and as a way of attracting farmers to join coffee farming, Bigirwa put up a nursery bed that contains over 100,000 coffee seedlings which he plans to give out freely to registered farmers.
With support from the National Agricultural Advisory Services programme last year, Bigirwa supplied 80,000 coffee seedlings to farmers free of charge.
In the last season, the factory processed 45 tonnes of washed robusta coffee and this year it expects to export 60 tonnes of processed coffee. It has established a partnership with Kyagalanyi Coffee Limited who, through their vast connections and experience in the coffee sector, are helping to market the coffee abroad.
"I am looking at how I can brand and trade Bushenyi coffee in countries like Japan. To do this we need to consolidate our local partnership with Kyagalanyi Coffee."
The machines are not yet fully utilised since most farmers had abandoned coffee farming. The machines which are supposed to process 12 tonnes of fresh coffee only receive six tonnes.
Currently, farmers are paid sh700 per kilogram of fresh cherry and he adds them sh100 to encourage them to pick the best coffee.
Bigirwa said he sent samples to Japan and the businessmen could not believe it was Ugandan robusta coffee. "Arabica coffee is regarded as the premium coffee, but with this value addition, washed robusta coffee is re-positioning itself as a cheaper, viable alternative to Arabica by the international roasters."
Bigirwa says power supply is still a challenge since it does not have a standby generator and water supply. The factory needs over 70,000 litres of water for the machines to run efficiently.
Bigirwa says price fluctuations and competition from traders who buy to dry the coffee are other challenges affecting the coffee business.
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