Mirembe Kawomera: Building the Future

During the February visit to the Mirembe Kawomera cooperative, leaders finalized an agreement with the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to finance the construction of a central processing station for Peace Kawomera. Now, construction on this facility has begun, and is slated for completion by mid-June in time for the upcoming harvest.

The new processing station will enable the cooperative to produce a better quality coffee, more consistently, with less environmental impact. A significant portion of the construction bill ($5,338) is being covered by contributions from Mirembe Kawomera's profit-sharing partnership, funds raised by each one of the customers, which are then sent to the cooperative and used to finance their growth and development.

Mirembe Kawomera looks forward to sharing the fruits of this labor with each of its customers: an even better coffee for those who've joined the farmers as they build a better future.

Stay tuned to the blog for more information on the progress of this project, and other news from the cooperative.

the blog: www.mirembekawomera.com/blog

I brought the idea to my fellow friends, Muslims and Christians, and I said we should make a co-op selling our coffee but as well as spreading peace in the world. They were all so happy so we called it Mirembe, which means peace, Kawomera, which means that even our coffee must be of quality. Then we made that cooperative.— JJ Keki, founder & director, Peace Kawomera Cooperative

Mirembe Kawomera Coffee began with one man's dream. In 2004, JJ Keki, a Ugandan coffee farmer, walked door to door asking his Jewish, Christian, and Muslim neighbors to put aside old differences and come together. Their community of third and fourth generation coffee farmers was struggling to make a living off the low prices offered by the local market. With the assistance of Laura Wetzler from the US-based organization Kulanu, these Jewish, Christian and Muslim farmers formed a cooperative to build lasting prosperity in their villages and to spread a message of peace throughout the world. They named their coffee Mirembe Kawomera, which means, "Delicious Peace" in the Luganda language.

Now in 2007, the Peace Kawomera Cooperative has grown to over 700 members. Thanks to their collective effort, the farmers sell directly to Thanksgiving Coffee Company, and receive prices four times higher than what they were previously paid. This has enabled farmers to send their children to school, start savings accounts, and reinvest in their farms.

Together, the farmers have succeeded in doing something that none could have done alone. As they face the many challenges of life in rural Uganda, they look to their cooperative for hope and strength. In the coming years, the Cooperative plans to invest in land and equipment, offer microfinance to members and contribute to a variety of public health and education projects. Please visit our Community Development section to learn more about the Cooperative's struggles and successes.

www.mirembekawomera.com/cooperative