We strive for the best sustainable practices and an ever-growing impact on the local producers and communities. We are endeavouring to be the showcase example in the development and future growth of Ugandan high-altitude coffee.

Mountain Harvest commits to provide farmers it sources coffee from with superior terms of trade with respect to price, liquidity and transparency and to steadily build trusting and productive relationships with both farmers and roasters.

a] Ensure that by 2021 100% of the farmers supplying Mountain Harvest are organic certified

b] Ensure that by 2022 80% of the farmers working with Mountain Harvest practice good agricultural practices including application of organic fertilizers in their coffee farms

c] Ensure that by 2023 80% of the farmers working with Mountain Harvest have diversified income to meet the cost of a decent standard of living

In partnership with: Lutheran World Relief

Update

June 2023

Mountain Harvest has trained and supported coffee farmers to become certified organic farmers, practice good agricultural practices and diversify incomes. The following progress has been recorded for the reporting period selected.

a) 867 coffee farmers (480 males and 387 females) started and are now running rabbit production businesses with an average additional earning of $33.6 USD per farmer per year.

b) 330 farmers (186 males and 144 females) started intercropping high-quality legumes with their coffee and diversifying incomes. Out of the of the 9Kgs of beans received per farmer from Mountain Harvest, an average of 78Kgs was harvested per farmer, 10% was stored for the next planting season, 50% of the harvest was locally sold at an average of USD 0.9 and 40% was reserved for home consumption. This improved the household income by an average of USD 35.1 and improved the farmer's food security.

c) 400 (237 males and 163 females) received avocado seedlings from Mountain Harvest to support income diversification and agroforestry. They are expected to harvest and sell the fruits in 2025.

d) 200 farmers (126 females and 74 males) received macadamia seedlings from Mountain Harvest to support income diversification and agroforestry. They are expected to harvest and sell the fruits in 2026.

e) Mountain Harvest has set up bee keeping businesses for 525 farmers who have already produced 332 Kgs of honeycombs sold at 2.2 USD /Kg to Mountain Harvest and generating $730 USD in extra income.

f) Farmers who were trained in organic compost production and application registered a 31% change in coffee yield from 0.42kgs of green to 0.55kgs of green coffee per tree. The change in coffee yield translates into a corresponding change in income from coffee."

For farmer incomes, the company increased incomes to farmers by increasing purchases of product and farm gate price, increasing the number of farmers selling cherry instead of parchment which increased revenue from coffee per annual crop cycle per farmer to $519. The company created employment opportunities for professional harvesters. Pilot farmers/groups received bee keeping equipment, avocado seedlings and quality legume seeds to establish alternative income generating products.