The coffee industry lacks a deep understanding of farmers' perspectives, aspirations, and challenges. Through this interview, you have the chance to get to know more about one of our partners in Uganda — Aggrey Chombe — and his efforts for a more sustainable coffee industry
Zombo Coffee Partners (ZCP) is an export company with an inspirational story led by transparency, equity, and inclusivity. ZCP was born in 2018 in the Zombo district in Uganda where farmers have been growing coffee since the 1940s.
ZCP represents a unique model in the region at different levels. For instance, farmer groups have collectively constructed small central factories, also known as microstations, at village level where wet-processing methods are uniform and thus quality standards are high.
ZCP is also making assertive efforts to change the narrative in the region when it comes to gender equality. Women largely make up the labour force in coffee production but do not share proportional representation in management and resource control in this section of the value chain. At ZCP, women are on board in the processing of coffee as well as they are taking over leadership positions in the groups at microstations level. As Aggrey enthusiastically explained: “Having a leadership position in the coffee value chain for a woman is something unique and we are proud of our efforts in this direction”.
Aggrey, a farmer by profession, is currently leading the productions at Zombo Coffee Partners. Driven by his passion for increasing the quality of his regional coffee, Aggrey has been working on farm improvement practices for over a decade. Aggrey recounts: “Earlier, I used to drink coffee with a lot of sugar. When I started working with speciality coffee, I realized I was only drinking sugar without tasting any real coffee. Now, I taste different coffee flavours. I also do a little bit of cupping at times. I can tell if the coffee has acidity or more fruity note.”
“Today, we got top prices for our coffee. Without microstations, I couldn’t dream of this.”
Aggrey mentions that the core values of the company are Quality and Transparency. He explains that Zombo Coffee Partners’ structure, a hybrid of private shareholders company in partnership with groups of over 1000 smallholders coffee producers, is a unique model to the region. As a collection of village-operated microstations, ZCP works not only on improving coffee quality together with farmers, but increasing their ownership of assets with an aim of 25% farmer ownership in the company.
Aggrey adds: “Over the years, ZCP has done significant work with farmers to improve these microstations and to provide access to the market. Earlier we would get a maximum of 400 UGX (less than 10 cents). Today, we get top prices for our coffee. Without microstations, I can’t dream of this”.
“I want to make all our coffee reach a high quality score of 86 and above.”
Aggrey is very enthusiastic about quality coffee. Based on his experience in agronomy and strong community reach, he is making efforts to motivate other farmers to participate in quality improvement initiatives. “The work at ZCP motivates me every day. I want to help build a unique identity of our coffee from Nebbi and Zombo. I want all our coffee to reach a high-quality score of 86 and above. I am focusing on training farmers on better soil practices. At the microstation, cherries are processed centrally, so we maintain a consistent quality of our coffee across the microstations. Here, we are also experimenting with different fermentation methods to reach the quality that we need (Honey or Natural). I am confident in the coming 5 years all our 8 microstations will get the top quality: all lots at 86 and above score”.
“We are struggling to find a fair price for our coffee.”
Aggrey mentions that they are struggling with two main challenges, a fair price for their coffee and dramatically changing weather conditions. He says: “Andy and Jason (co-founders of ZCP) are consistently taking the lead in finding buyers for our specialty coffee, yet we are struggling with pricing. Last year, if we could have sold all our coffee at the price that Wakuli and This Side Up offered to us, it would have been a blast! By Zombo policy of 33% of profit-sharing, farmers would have benefited with a bonus. Unfortunately, we couldn’t. Also, the extreme weather change is making things difficult for us. It is badly affecting our yield. Last year the yield was so poor that we were not even sure if we would meet the requirements for the buyers”.
“All we need is a stable and consistent market.”
To the question of how the current coffee trade could be made profitable for farmers, Aggrey has a clear answer, “All we need is a stable and consistent market.” He adds: “Let me give you an example, say we know that Wakuli would buy x amount of coffee from us every year, that would be great! At the moment, we are working for a market that we are not sure of, we don’t know if we will have buyers for all the coffee we produce. If we know who our buyers are and what quantities they would buy from us, we will be more motivated to work harder. Together, with feedback from consumers, we can work on matching the quality and requirements for our buyers”.
“Consumer feedback is important. I would like the buyers to tell me if my coffee was good/very good or okay. It will motivate me to work hard”
Is there something that you would like to know from Wakuli on your consumers? to this question, Aggrey says: “As a farmer, I would be happy to hear from my consumers. I would like them to tell me ‘Aggrey! The coffee you sent me is good or very good, and this is what I think you can improve’. I would also like to show them how we produce our coffee. I am thankful and happy to talk with Wakuli. For me, this is already a milestone. As a farmer, I am beginning to talk to our roasters, to Wakuli directly, I am sharing my side of the story. This is something very positive. This is a sign we are getting to better things in the future”.
Why this interview?
You may have read that 20–25 million smallholder farmers produce 70% of the coffee globally (Coffee Barometer 2018). However, when it comes to information on coffee producers and workers, the coffee industry lacks a deep understanding of who these farmers are, how they want to grow coffee, or how they want to trade. Interestingly, the transactional nature of the buyer relationships within the existing value chain deters to have such knowledge of producers. In fact, it tends to limit farmers’ role to mere price takers. As a direct consequence, farmers largely remain voiceless in the discussions about a sustainable coffee sector.
At Wakuli, we are trying to disrupt this trend by humanizing our supply chain and creating a real connection between farmers and consumers. We believe that it is important that these two sides of the same coin get to know each other and have the chance to interact.
If you want to know more about ZCP commitment to sustainability, you can check their Sourcing and Sustainability Report from 2020 here.
