“NUCAFE coffee is grown, selectively harvested, roasted and ground in Uganda. At all levels, the coffee is still owned by the farmers.

Buying coffee directly from the farmers means better coffee for you, better life for the farm family and healthier environment for us all, 90% of the surpluses are paid to the coffee farmers and 10% is ploughed back in the organization (National Union of Coffee Agribusiness and Farm Enterprises) to enhance our value proposition to customers and society.”

NUCAFE

I bought my first pack of NUCAFE Coffee a couple of days ago, and this morning, as the Coronavirus-induced-lockdown-psychological-toll on me sharpens, I brewed my first cup. It was a fabulous experience, right from the time I opened the pack, the aroma was a welcome scent in my home.

Hands down, NUCAFE is my favourite coffee now. I thoroughly enjoyed my cup of coffee this morning, as I did my morning reading for leisure. Yes, I had allowed a deviation in my routine, finding it hard to get up in the morning, because of the lockdown. But, last night I made a mental note to wake up and get out of bed at the time I used to before the lockdown and to enjoy my time tested routine.

As promised by NUCAFE, their coffee is better for me. It gives me joy to think that my little action of buying a pack of coffee has enabled me to contribute to the wellbeing of farming households in Uganda. Majority of Ugandans are of smallholder farming households. That silent majority are the ones who feed the nation. They are the backbone of Uganda’s economy. Why are smallholder farmers in Uganda then given the rawest deal in our national political-speak?

Now, you hear the president praising people who have donated empty plastic water cans and you wonder. He may have praised our smallholder farmers, I missed it, and if he did, in my view, he mustn’t have not so sufficiently. Sadly, when we come out of this pandemic, the contribution of Uganda’s smallholder farmers will continue to be given underwhelming support, in rhetoric, in policy, in practice and in financing.

This, surely, must stop Your Excellency. We have seen your handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and we now that with your right political will you can move mountains. See how quickly those officers in the Office of the Prime Minister, who are alleged to have engaged in the most foul of corruption, have been apprehended; within just days of their misdeeds.

Your Excellency, it is not uncommon to enter Government of Uganda offices and one finds that they buy and consume imported coffee brands and other beverages as well. Our dear jaja President, is that not tantamount to “attempted murder?”

Post-pandemic, sabajaja, we, smallholder farmers, the majority of Ugandans, pray that you will strictly enforce the “Buy Uganda Building Uganda (BUBU)” policy.  Even for those huge corporations that you are now praising for making donations to the pandemic relief effort; and moreover, in some cases they are doing so in a manner that dehumanises us.

Thank you.