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Interview with Rosie Lembusi, a Fair Trade coffee farmer in Uganda
From The Coffee Chain Game
online pages.
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Credit: Helen Harrison
Uganda: Rosie Lembusi, a Fair Trade farmer. Click for larger image. |
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Helen Harrison, a Fair Trade advisor, visited Uganda with Christian Aid in October 2004. She met Rosie Lembusi, a coffee farmer who sells most of her coffee to CaféDirect, a Fair Trade coffee company. She spoke to Rosie and her daughter Irene about their lives. |
Rosie Lembusi is 50 years old and has six children. She has 100 coffee trees and like all the farmers in the area she grows the high-quality Arabica coffee. It takes her two days to cover all her trees, harvesting the beans that have turned from green to bright red. Rosie does this every three weeks until all the beans have been picked, and she usually gets around one kilogram of coffee per tree per year. As an organic farmer Rosie will get a top price for her coffee, but she had to work hard for three years before being certified organic. She gets a good price for her coffee.
Benefits of Fair Trade
Rosie said that since she has been part of the Gumutindo Fair Trade co-operative her financial position has improved, as she receives 500 shillings per kilo more than before. The co-operative guarantees its farmers 200 shillings above the market price and, the Fairtrade community premium from CaféDirect is 200 shillings per kilo, which goes towards community benefits as decided by the co-operative once the running costs of the co-operative have been met. CaféDirect gives its payment to the farmers in two parts, one payment on delivery and the second later in the year; this assists the farmers in organising their finances across the year.
Before Rosie joined the co-operative, she said she was getting too little money for her crop. It took a long time to be paid and sometimes the buyers cheated her. She decided to join the co-operative when she saw the benefits they were receiving. She was then given training in how to improve the quality of her coffee by using organic farming methods. 'Now I receive cash on delivery and I get a second payment later on too.' Rosie explained.
Rosie's improved income has meant she can pay for the school uniform and school books for Irene and Matrit who are among the 1,168 children at nearby Gumutindo Primary School. Primary schooling is free in Uganda since it received debt relief, but secondary schooling still has to be paid for. Rosie says she can also afford a few extra things for her home and family, but she still like to earn more to give her children a better education. She said would like a nicer house too.
Consumers of the world can help
Rosie is not happy that some of her friends are not able to be part of the cooperative. 'It is hard for them when the coffee price drops' she said. 'The government should give them loans.' However, this is not allowed under international trading rules. She hopes that a larger market for Fair Trade coffee will develop so that they can join.
Rosie thanked Christian Aid for working to get a better deal for all farmers, 'You are doing a wonderful job', she said. 'Farmers cannot reach the consumers of the world to ask them to help.'
> Read Helen's interview with Rosie's daughter, Irene Lembusi.
From The Coffee Chain Game online resource.
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