Hidden treasure: Builder-turned-farmer reaps big from coffee

A professional builder, who abandoned the trade for coffee farming in Bukomansimbi District, today sings praises to the coffee sales boom.

Mr Daniel Ssembajwe, a farmer at Misanvu Village, Kibinge sub-county in Bukomansimbi District, has spent more than five years in the coffee value chain.

His good fortune is a slice of the boom in Uganda’s coffee exports between September 2023 and August 2024, which earned the country $1.35 billion (about Shs4.9t) reaped from 6.39 million 60-kilogramme coffee bags.

For Ssembajwe, the good prices for the crop have empowered him to own coffee nursery beds and 15 acres of coffee plantation. He also supplies 30,000 certified coffee seedlings and cuttings, from which he earns more income.

A builder by profession, Ssembajwe earned his Advanced Certificate in Building and Construction in 1998 before venturing into coffee growing. His journey was helped by a portion of land he inherited from his parents at Misanvu Village in Kibinge Sub-county, the heart of coffee farming in Bukomansimbi District.

Soon, Ssembajwe joined the Kibinge Coffee Farmers’ Cooperative Society which honed his coffee-farming skills. 

He then acquired more land to expand his coffee farm. Harvesting an estimated 120 bags of coffee between 2023 and 2024 during the boom, Ssembajwe is not shy to share his joy as a farmer.

He has refurbished his home, bought more land, constructed a water irrigation system at the coffee farm, and is financing additional family income projects with the extra income generated 

from the coffee sales. Ssembajwe is now a major supplier of 30,000 certified coffee seedlings and cuttings.

“I paid attention to the earlier calls by both the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) and the Buganda Kingdom officials for farmers to embrace coffee production. I can proudly 

say the coffee boom has made a difference for my family. It may not be about the number of bags sold but the fair market price is a big boost. The price per kilogramme is good for any serious farmer,” he says.

Cash from coffee

The Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) says coffee farm prices during September 2024 ranged between Shs6,500 and Shs7,000 for Kiboko or unprocessed coffee beans per kilogramme (Robusta) and Shs12,500 to 13,000 for the Fair Average Quality (FAQ) or processed coffee per kilogramme.

Ssembajwe credits the Kibinge Coffee Farmers’ Cooperative Society for the spirited fight to have the members benefit from their coffee gardens. Nonetheless, the farmers outside the cooperative movement equally gain from the 

coffee boom.

“It is a matter of ensuring one maintains the coffee standards and ensures the coffee trees are not affected by the coffee diseases. The fair prices are for every coffee farmer who has had the chance to harvest the coffee,” he says.

The unmatched job

“With a good net income being able to meet my family's basic needs, and setting up multiple side income activities using funds generated from the coffee gardens, I have no other job to match my needs. The garden is helping my family to navigate the different challenges. The garden is my master. I spend more time serving my master because of the expected outcome after harvest,” Ssembajwe explains.

Ssembajwe says many people in Bukomansimbi are driving their vehicles and have built modest homes out of the coffee sales boom. He says the trick is to have the coffee gardens well maintained and learn more about the coffee industry and its good farm practices.

In 2013, Ssembajwe cut down the time he spent in construction although the job was equally paying at the time. He then started with small coffee gardens while minting more cash from the coffee cuttings and seedlings supplied to farmers.

“I quickly realised that I had to acquire more land from the profits from the sales of coffee cuttings. I had several tenders to supply the cuttings because UCDA had already certified my coffee nursery project. I got tenders to supply coffee cuttings under Naads and the Operation Wealth Creation projects. I got inspired to buy more land and plant more coffee after discovering the hidden secret in the coffee farming business,” he says.

Empowering farmers

Ssembajwe is a member of the Kibinge Coffee Farmers’ Cooperative Society, an institution he credits for instilling in him the pride of being a successful farmer with grounded farming practices and principles.

After serving at the cooperative at different managerial levels, Ssembajwe, who remains a member of the society, believes the cooperative can play a pivotal role in helping farmers appreciate farming as a job that can help many Ugandans generate wealth.

Through the cooperative, the members are assured of collective marketing strategies, enhanced farming skills, productivity and quality assurance and access to credit finances.

“The shared farming knowledge and the ability to lobby for members at the different levels and collective voice for the coffee farmers is the reason why many farmers in Bukomansimbi are craving to join the cooperative societies,” he says.

Gold in the coffee crop 

The coffee crop that has been around for decades has a guaranteed market despite the fluctuation in sale prices. 

Ssembajwe, who has been into coffee farming for more than 15 years, wants the farmers to realise the value of the coffee crop.

“Many farmers are not aware of the hidden gold in the coffee crop. We still see abandoned and almost neglected.coffee gardens but at harvest time, a farmer struggles to pick the few coffee beans to help meet some basic needs,” Mr Ssenbajwe reveals.

BOOMING COFFEE BUSINESSES

The 2014 National Housing and Population Census put the number of households engaged in coffee growing in Bukomansimbi at about 13,223. This represents 38.5 percent of the total district population.

Currently, Kibinge, the sub-county with the biggest acreage of coffee plantations, has more than 15 coffee processing plants that employ more than 20 people per plant at the peak of the harvest season.

Mr Fred Nyenje Kayiira, the Bukomasimbi District Council chairperson, attributes the increased coffee productivity to the enhanced farmer awareness about the coffee crop by both the central government and Buganda Kingdom.

“The Emwanyi terimba [coffee is a sure deal] campaign championed by Buganda Kingdom premier Charles Peter Mayiga has played a pivotal role in boosting coffee production in Bukomansimbi. We have registered more new coffee plantations as a result of the coffee campaign,” he says.

Hajj Sowedi Sserwadda, the chairperson of Kibinge Coffee Farmers’ Cooperative Society, says the major challenges facing coffee farmers at the household level are persistent coffee diseases and coffee theft.

Gold in coffee

Many farmers are not aware of the hidden gold in the coffee crop. We still see abandoned and almost neglected coffee gardens but at harvest time, a farmer struggles to pick the few coffee beans to help meet some basic needs. The farmers need real sensitisation by the different players in the industry’’ Daniel Ssembajwe, a farmer at Misanvu Village, Kibinge Sub-county in Bukomansimbi District.