UGANDA – Nespresso, the coffee operating unit of the Nestlé Group has introduced a new and seasonal coffee from the Rwenzori Mountains of Uganda know as AMAHA awe UGANDA-‘Hope of Uganda’, through its Reviving Origins program aimed to restore coffee production in different regions.
The Reviving Origins program is an integral part of the Nespresso AAA Sustainable Quality Program, the brand’s sustainable sourcing model in coffee producing countries.
Launched in 2019, the CHF10 million (US$10.3m) Reviving Origins program is set to run for five years (2019-2023) and aims to restore coffee production in regions where it is under threat from adversities such as conflict, economic hardship and environmental disasters.
The program provides support to rebuild sustainable livelihoods for farmers and their communities while preserving the future of some of the world’s rarest, most exquisite coffees.
Guillaume Le Cunff, CEO of Nespresso said, “Coffee is the lifeblood of entire communities across the globe. In many regions, coffee farming is threatened for reasons such as climate change, conflict and a shifting global economy.”
“Through the Reviving Origins program, Nespresso provides support to struggling coffee farming areas and helps breathe new life into local economies and, most importantly, communities in these regions,” he added.
According to the company’s press-release, In Uganda, climate change, poor farming practices and economic hardship has meant that the production of high-quality coffee has been a challenge over recent years.
Nespresso is working with more than 2,000 farmers in the country, providing training and expertise to improve coffee quality and productivity in addition to establishing sustainable farming practices.
It is undertaking this initiative in partnership with Agri Evolve, a young agribusiness dedicated to improving farmer productivity.
“Our partnership with Nespresso enables us to provide on-going support to the Rwenzori coffee farmers. Through community projects and teamwork, growth and development are not only within the coffee farm but also in the improved environmental and social standards of the community,” said Jonny Rowland, Owner and Managing Director of Agri Evolve.
The AMAHA awe UGANDA coffee will be available from May 2020 in 31 countries across the world, alongside Reviving Origins coffees TAMUKA mu ZIMBABWE and ESPERANZA de COLOMBIA, both back for 2020 following their initial launch last year.
Reviving Origin program in other regions
The launch of the new Ugandan coffee marks second year of success for Nespresso’s Reviving Origins program, following productivity boost in regions in Zimbabwe and Colombia where coffee is under threat
In Zimbabwe, coffee production has been under pressure for a number of years, falling from 15,000 tons in the late 1980s to just 500 tons in 2017.
In Colombia, almost 50 years of conflict has meant many farmers abandoned their lands and coffee almost disappeared from Caquetá and El Rosario.
In both countries, Nespresso provides continuous training on quality and productivity, as well as free technical assistance through its agronomist network.
It also addresses infrastructure challenges that exist in these areas by building wet mills or helping to establish coffee cooperatives.
As a result, productivity has increased. The availability of AAA high quality coffee has grown by 9% in the Manicaland province of Zimbabwe and 10% in Caquetá, Colombia, from 2018 to 2019.
This year, Nespresso is, for the first time, making its AAA Sustainable Quality Program data publicly available using blockchain technology.
Introduced for Zimbabwe initially, a new Nespresso platform traces the AAA coffee from farms in Zimbabwe all the way through to the Nespresso production centre in Switzerland.
Users of the blockchain platform will be able to zoom in on specific farms, where they can find a breakdown of the total coffee produced at farm level and the amount of high quality coffee bought by Nespresso.
Guillaume Le Cunff, CEO of Nespresso stated, “We know that consumers are more and more interested to know where their coffee is coming from. Thanks to our AAA Sustainable Quality Program, we have had traceability back to individual farms in our value chain for over 15 years.”
“I am pleased that thanks to this blockchain initiative, we can now take it one step further and invite our customers to discover the farmers behind their TAMUKA mu ZIMBABWE coffee.”
Nespresso first discovered the potential of reviving a forgotten coffee when it ventured to South Sudan in 2011. The limited edition SULUJA ti SOUTH SUDAN became the country’s second export after oil in 2015 and 2016, and helped to diversify the economic base of the world’s youngest nation.
