Pulp Compost
Elgon Coffee General Company is a women-led company located in Eastern Uganda comprising of 11 cooperatives. They contract small holder farmers whom they support with seed propagation and source Arabica variety coffee cherries from them. Elgon Coffee has 7 permanent staff and has an average annual production of 120 metric tonnes.
Elgon Coffee uses the wet (full washing) method for its coffee processing that involves sorting, pulping, washing, fermenting, soaking, drying and grading. Roasting (where required by a buyer) is outsourced, and after processing, the coffee is exported to countries such as the U.K.
After processing, Elgon Coffee currently generates approximately 48 tons of coffee pulp annually that includes pulp and mucilage. For the local community, if left untreated, it can result in soil nutrient loss through volatilization, leaching and surface runoff. It can also lead to unpleasant odours and GHG emissions.
During Phase I of the MARKUP programme, Elgon Coffee benefited from training on vermicomposting, and it has since adopted this alongside the more conventional method for creating compost from its pulp. The pulp is placed in a composting pit and composted for about 1 month using naturally occurring microorganisms.
As Elgon Coffee shared,
"I learnt efficient resource management, soil management, vermicomposting coffee pulp into fertilizer, water recycling, and sustainable practices, which I apply to my production process and share with farmers. 36 women farmers have benefited from the vermicompost manure, doubling their harvest from 1kg to 2kg, with a goal of 4kgs by 2026, ultimately increasing coffee production."
Elgon Coffee has over 300 contracted farmers and nearly 10% of their key suppliers utilize coffee compost. This has significantly increased production volumes from 1kg to 2 kg per tree, consequently increasing farmer incomes. In the current coffee season Elgon Coffee has already received 50% more cherries than in the previous season. Additionally, the application of pulp compost reduces the use of conventional fertilizers and associated GHG emissions, firmly positioning Elgon Coffee in the fight against climate change.
Apart from the cost savings made from penalties associated with poor waste disposal, in the last season, Elgon Coffee made over USD 1,000 from the sale of pulp compost to their farmers. Elgon Coffee is now keen to expand its coffee manure program and trebling the number of their farmers using pulp compost. Space to set up a compost pit has been a challenge and Elgon Coffee has currently overcome this by renting space from a neighbor. As part of its expansion strategy, over the coming year, Elgon Coffee is planning to build a new processing facility at Kapteror Village, where it will have expanded its capacity to
Backgrounder
Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) make up most businesses globally, they are estimated to account for about 90 per cent of firms. MSMEs also contribute significantly to global emissions, for example through energy consumption. While GHG emissions attributable to MSMEs vary across geographies, their contribution is significant and ranges between 40 and 60 per cent.
ITC supports businesses to reduce their carbon emission and save on operating costs by helping them to become more resource efficient. Through the Resource Efficiency and Circular Production Coaching Programme, ITC's Trade and Environment team helps micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs) to develop strategies to use resources like energy and water more efficiency, and to develop circular business models. The strategies often require a large capital outlay to invest in the right infrastructure underscoring a need to support this business with access to affordable finance.
In 2021, under the Phase I of the Market Access Upgrade (MARKUP I) programme, ITC supported several coffee companies in Uganda to improve their resource efficiency and increase their environmental performance.
Under MARKUP II, ITC implements a coaching component on Resource Efficiency and Circular Production (RECP) targeting MSMEs to support them strengthen their competitiveness through the adoption of resource efficient and circular practices. This approach aims at improving the productivity and environmental performance of beneficiary MSMEs, while supporting them to lower their environmental footprint and realize cost savings. In the first year of MARKUP II, the RECP component focused on the coffee value chain in Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda.
