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A BETTER WAY continued from page 43 The group traveled to Mount Elgon to perform an exhaus- tive coffee diagnostic aimed at increasing the quality, quantity and marketing potential of locally grown Arabica. Using this analy- sis and a September 2009 diagnos- tic report, a project called Kabum Coffee International was born. The word Kabum is a shortened version of Kapchorwa Bukwo Mild (that last adjective refers to the coffee's fla- vor), and the project centers around approximately 70 "model" farmers, most of whom have at least 2,000 coffee trees. These experienced farm- ers then mentor their neighboring growers in "best practices," both in producing and processing cherries. In turn, the entire farmer group (con- sisting of more than 1,000 growers) receives year-round training, micro- loans for fertilizers and other inputs, and direct access to buyers through Kabum Coffee. Before becoming one of Kabum's model producers, Janet had experienced the subsistence cycle of hoeing, weeding, digging channels for water, hand-picking cherries, de-pulping with a communal hand pulper and drying coffee on the ground. Janet's single income needed to stretch far enough to support all her chil- dren, which was a tall order considering she was subject to multi- national middlemen who paid a set price per kilo of parchment. Because of this practice, the farmer's focus had to be on quan- tity. The idea that better quality could bring a higher price only arrived in 2009, with the formation of Kabum. Also in 2009, Janet had another lesson on the price power of higher quality when she took her first air- plane trip to attend the East Africa Fine Coffee Association convention in Kigale, Rwanda. There she was introduced to the concept of cupping by Certified Q Graders. Conversations with several other East African farm- ers and retailers convinced Janet and her Kapchorwa counterparts that high-quality specialty coffee could act as a ticket to economic independence. She eagerly embraced Kabum's The word Kabum is a shortened version of Kapchorwa Bukwo Mild (that last adjective refers to the coffee's flavor), and the project cen- ters around approximately 70 "model" farmers, most of whom have at least 2,000 coffee trees. mission of developing coffees that cup 84 and higher. She and other farmers began carefully selecting only ripe cherries, fermenting them for about 18 hours and drying them on raised beds. Kabum pro- vided Janet with micro-loans to add fertilizers and sprays to strengthen her garden and created a network of train- ing from the local staff in best practices. She was able to pay these low interest loans back after her first harvest. As the quality of her cof- fee increased, she received bonuses on top of the market price for her parchment. Thanks to such focus on quality, Janet and the other Kapchorwa 44 COFFEE ALMANAC 2012