Fresh Cup

JUN 2012

Fresh Cup Magazine, providing specialty coffee and tea professionals with unique insight into the trends, ideas, products and people that shape their world.

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A BETTER WAY continued from page 45 UNITY: Janet Chemonges (second from right) leads the Chebonet Farmer Group, an organization of predominantly female farmers focused on having ownership of their coffee at every step. their coffees early in the season, Kabum provides them with a cupping score, and they can then use that information to adjust their practices to improve quality. The Kabum team works with Janet and her Chebonet Farmer Group throughout the year with the goal of achieving micro-lot status for her coffee. Once they achieve that goal, Kabum can match that individual micro- lot with a specific buyer based upon sample approval. That direct relationship is referred to in the Kabum model as "True Trade." In 2010, Janet attended the International Women in Coffee (IWIC) meeting in Kampala, Uganda, as Kabum's representative. This experi- ence was another watershed moment for Janet, as she realized she had the potential to organize women farmers, including a number of HIV-positive widows, to produce the type of quality coffee that could bring them a better return. It was from this experience that 46 COFFEE ALMANAC 2012 The Kabum Trading Company, jointly owned by Kabum Coffee International and Kabum farmers, is working to build a large washing station and establish an economic model that can be replicated elsewhere in Uganda. Chebonet was born, and it is now a thriving, connected group of predominately female farmers. The group shares Kabum's goal of farmers having total ownership of their coffee—from cherry to the washing station, dry milling and, ultimately, export. To that end, the Kabum Trading Company, jointly owned by Kabum Coffee International and Kabum farmers, is work- ing to build a large washing station and establish an eco- nomic model that can be rep- licated elsewhere in Uganda. The washing station will be housed in Bukwo, and Kabum is currently working on establishing a core group of farmers who will be involved in the project. In the meantime, Janet has seen her son, Newton, who recently completed his nursing degree, help significantly reduce local malaria cases by bringing disease education and prevention to Testimony School. (Established in 2006 by several churches in Central Oregon, Testimony School

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