By Weswa Ronnie
MBALE
Bugisu Co-operative Union (BCU) collaborated with ABI-Trust, Café Africa, International Women in Coffee, and the Mastercard Foundation to empower and skill women aged between 16 and 35 with knowledge of the coffee value chain, from the nursery bed to the final product.
Speaking on Friday at Mbale Cricket Ground during coffee day celebrations, BCU Chairman, Nathan Nandala Mafabi said BCU was selected to spearhead the day and to parade young women who have been equipped with coffee value chain knowledge.
He said BCU has registered success, having achieved its target number of young women trained in a period of only six months, and the partners have agreed to extend the programme.
During the coffee expo, young women decried limited funding and lack of access to land for coffee farming.
According to Nandala and the partners, husbands and other stakeholders have been called upon to grant young women access to land for coffee farming and to provide any other necessary support.
Nandala added that an empowered woman improves family welfare and also contributes to the development of society.
On coffee farming, Nandala observed that coffee is the second most traded commodity after oil, and that with the increasing global population, all processed coffee will be bought on the international market through BCU, the leading cooperative society in the region with over 299 member societies and an average of 2,000 members each, bringing together over 600,000 people in the region.
In a related development, Nandala shared his experience with women empowerment in Granada, Spain, in the 1990s, where a group of women were crafting bags out of sisal and eventually started a big commercial bank that has largely improved their economic status.
He said the continued initiative by BCU and partners is aimed at improving women’s welfare, lifting them out of poverty, and enabling them to take good care of their homesteads.
John Musila, the BCU Vice Chairperson who also doubles as Member of Parliament for Bubulo East Constituency in Namisindwa District, appealed to young women to be patient and gradually acquire land ownership, while responding to concerns about limited space.
He advised that one can start with 50 coffee plants and harvest over 100 kilograms upon maturity, adding that BCU accommodates young women in its processing plant.
