FCC Uganda Update 3: Mushroom Cultivation & Youth Enterprise
Mushroom Training
Two months shy of Futureproof Coffee Uganda’s anniversary, The Coffee Quest flew out to Mubende for the third training session of the project: Mushroom cultivation.
Why Mushrooms?
Mushrooms may sound an odd choice, given that they do not grow naturally in Uganda, and do not feature in Ugandan traditional cuisine. However, globalisation and increasing international business in the Mubende area have proven mushrooms to be a surprisingly profitable business opportunity. Moreover, mushrooms contribute positively to the 3 project focus areas, targeted to make our Robusta coffee more futureproof:
- Soil Deterioration
- Underpayment
- Gender Inequality
Soil deterioration:
Mushrooms grow in something called a substrate – an organic base comprised of materials like cotton seed husks, coffee grounds or even dried grass – that can be repurposed as organic compost fodder, replacing the need to source other carbon-rich ingredients.
Underpayment:
Once correctly executed, mushrooms can be exceptionally profitable.
A small ‘bottle’ of seeds costing 5000UGX (1,21€) can produce 8 gardens.
Each garden produces 1.5kg to 2kg of fresh oyster mushrooms within a 2-3 month timeframe, with a local retail value of 4000-5000UGX per kg – the equivalent of xxx Robusta coffee cherry. On a preferable local market, you’re looking at a possible 12-16x returns on investment!
Of course, it is not always possible to find fresh takers immediately, but in these cases, mushrooms can be easily dried, and even ground, to be sold as a nutritional flavour enhancer for stews and soups.
Gender Inequality:
Najjuma Barbara Kamya started cultivating mushrooms over 10 years ago, after leaving her husband and finding herself desperate for subsistence income. With the support of Namukozi Disabled Integrated Group, a local initiative providing support to disabled people, she was able to grow her business in the Mityana region and now lives entirely off the income she generates through mushroom cultivation and training.
At the time that Barbara first started, there was not yet a mushroom market, but over the years the concept has gained traction, especially amongst women. Mushroom cultivation is not labour-intensive, and can be implemented at whatever scale suits the grower’s capacity. Furthermore, the individual steps are few, and easily adapted around a busy schedule. This makes mushroom growing a convenient practice for female household members, whose many other household responsibilities limit their free time – provided they are given the liberty and support from other family members to pursue the practice.
The Training
The training spanned 4 days, broken up by a 3-day hydration break. Following Barbara’s instructions closely, the 11 youths spent long days packing and steaming 305 individual mushroom gardens. Whilst the mushroom substrates were hydrating, we met with the leadership of the Youth Enterprises, to hear from them on their progress so far.
Youth Enterprise
For 7 months these young adults have poured their time and energy into building successful businesses, learning the politics of shared leadership and developing business acumen in the hunt for business opportunities in their local villages and markets.
The results are there: Shamuel, Chairman of Kanseera Youth Enterprise, sold BioL to the Kanseera Coffee Cooperative after presenting their product and business model to the Cooperative members during their last AGM. What’s more, the owner of a local Inputs store heard of Shamuel’s presentation and reached out, eager to stock their product in his store.
The organic farming movement is growing, even compared to where we were a year ago. By now, all the youth and their family have replaced chemical inputs with their own organic alternatives: they are cheaper and nurture a healthier growing environment for the gardens. What started as 2 enterprises of 11 members, is up to 3 groups with a total of 23 participants already!
The challenge is that the customer base willing to change from chemical to organic alternatives is still too small to generate sufficient revenue to sustain the project. The products are working perfectly, but basic packaging, amateur branding and the lack of formal certification still lead farmers to reach for the familiar chemical alternatives on the store shelf.
Looking Ahead
But this will soon change. On our last day, having packed all the mushrooms into the cool, dark stone hut for incubation, we gathered the youth once more for a branding and marketing workshop. They shared logo ideas, slogans, and packaging designs. Most importantly, with the help of our project partners in Ankole, we were able to locate means to get the products Certified Organic – with stamp and all!
The arrival of the bees after the end of the rains brings further hope for business. Having completed the final part of the beekeeping training under the supervision of our local beekeeper and trainer Michael, the entrepreneurs are finally ready to distribute the 20 hives on surrounding cooperative members’ farms. The hives will be placed and maintained by youth, but the entire surrounding area will benefit from the bee activity. Once inhabited, the sweet harvest can be packaged for free on Brand Farm, and each youth group will be responsible themselves for deciding to whom they market the product, and how they will split and re-invest the profits.
Despite the obvious financial benefits, the increased interaction between, and shared mutual benefit for, the youth entrepreneurs and older farmers, will help strengthen inter-generational relationships in the area, softening existing prejudices by many older farmers against youth and new concepts like organic farming.
For regular updates and news relating to the Futureproof Coffee Collective Uganda project and upcoming training, follow The Coffee Quest MVO Nederlands on Linkedin and Instagram.
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