Volume 3, Number 193
 
'There's a Jewish story everywhere'
 

Tuesday-Wednesday, October 13-14, 2009

Kulanu, monitor of far-flung Jewish communities, arranges a shidduch between USAID, Uganda coffee

By Ben Corey Moran

FORT BRAGG, Calisfornia -- Exciting news from coffee growers of Uganda: after nearly two years of project development, The Peace Kawomera Cooperative is about to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the US Agency for International Development (the development wing of the State Department) for a $250,000 infrastructure development project.

Just writing those words is a little surreal. It’s been a long time
coming, three trips to Uganda, countless hours meeting, emailing,
listening to one another on scratchy Internet and cell phones. Most of all, it’s been a tireless effort led by JJ Keki and Muhammed Kakaire Hatibu, Peace Kawomera’s chairman and secretary manager, respectively.

The project will finance the construction of a world-class coffee
processing and storage facility, which will avail the farmers of the best tools of the coffee trade. Now, for the first time in the history of coffee cultivation in Uganda, farmers will be able to bring out the full potential of their heirloom Bugisu Arabica varietals. The Cooperative will collect freshly picked, ripe cherries, and then control the process of depulping, fermenting, washing, and drying in a centralized facility.

Based on the development of similar processing techniques in
neighboring Kenya and Rwanda, we expect the washing station to
dramatically improve the quality of the farmers’ coffee. And

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we’re looking forward to paying more for each pound of coffee we buy.

None of this would be possible if it were not for the support of
our loyal customers, who not only lined up to build a market for this young cooperative’s coffee, but also enlisted the power of their coffee buying dollars, through our profit sharing partnership, and over the past five years, raised over $100,000 which bought the land and building materials that gave USAID the confidence they needed to invest further in this remarkable endeavor.

It’s almost too sweet to believe…but then it gets even better. Our
most recent arrival samples from our two incoming containers (75,000 lbs) arrived. I roasted them immediately, and cupped them yesterday.

They are great. Sweeter than ever before, with more clarity and complexity, and a fuller expression of their unique character. All of this was made possible by better management of coffee buying, which the cooperative initiated themselves. And this was using their old machinery and processing methods…if the coffee is already improving thismuch, imagine how it will taste next year!

Many thanks to Laura Wetzler and Kulanu for their tireless work
and for forging the initial connection with the Uganda-based USAID office. As with everything we’ve been able to do in Uganda, none of this would be possible without their contribution.

Preceding was reprinted from the Summer 2009 edition of Kulanu magazine. The author is a coffee buyer for Thanksgiving Coffee in California.

Copyright 2007-2009 - San Diego Jewish World, San Diego, California.

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