Nicole Simmons, the Volcanoes Safaris Partnership Trust Projects Coordinator for the Kyambura area has set up the women's coffee cooperative in the community surrounding Volcanoes’ new lodge, Kyambura Gorge Lodge. Coffee is one of the predominant cash crops in the area however, with the collapse of the local coffee processing plant in 1991 (the original building is now the beautiful Volcanoes Kyambura Gorge Lodge!) local growers had to ship their unprocessed coffee to other areas for a fraction of their previous profit.

The VSPT now hosts a small processing station at our VSPT Community and Conservation Centre in Kyambura. This facility allows the women to process the coffee near their homes as well as gives them the tools to produce a higher quality product for market.

Women in the cooperative commit to growing their coffee without the use of pesticides or chemical fertilizers. At harvest time the crop is taken to the VSPT Coffee Processing Station where it is hand processed (peeled, washed, dried and shelled) and then purchased by the VSPT at an average of 40% higher than market value rate. The VSPT then facilitates the marketing and sale of the coffee to the Volcanoes Safaris Lodges where it is served and sold, and also to other lodges in the area. Labeled as VSPT Omwani Coffee, it is a rich, well-balanced blend of Uganda’s indigenous Robusta beans, blended with high quality Arabica beans.

All proceeds from the coffee sales are put back into the coffee co-op and processing station as well as other VSPT projects.

Currently 15 women and their families are directly benefitting from the Volcanoes Safaris Partnership Trust Kyambura Coffee Cooperative.

A guided visit to the VSPT community coffee station is available as part of your stay at Volcanoes Kyambura Gorge Lodge. Contact one of our sales team for more details.