Uganda’s Rwenzori Mountains—coined the “Mountains of the Moon”—are a sight to behold, featuring snowcapped peaks, alpine rivers, and an ideal climate and environment for growing coffee. Yet, many rural coffee-farming communities in this unique landscape struggle to address a worldwide problem: child labor and protecting child rights. In these mountainside counties, child labor is perpetuated by poverty, limited access to education, and reliance on family labor, endangering children and hindering their long-term opportunities.
Building upon the success of our 2020-2023 project, the Rwenzori Education, Livelihoods, and Gender Project aims to address child labor’s root causes. With support from Nespresso, the Rainforest Alliance has partnered with Kyagalanyi Coffee Ltd (KCL) to embed child protection into their business practices. The Rainforest Alliance will provide training aligned with our standard to help the KCL cooperative’s farming households to increase their incomes and coffee production. In doing so, the project seeks to create a coffee supply chain free from child labor. This work will strengthen the due diligence processes of KCL and Nespresso, offering insights into the key issues faced by farmers and bolstering their broader sustainability initiatives.
Location
Rwenzori Mountain region and the Kasese district in the Maliba, Kilembe, and Bugoye sub-counties of Uganda.
Project Period
2024-2027
Key Commodity
Coffee
Priority Issues
- Child labor
- Gender equality
Partner Communities
The project is estimated to benefit 2,500 coffee farmers in the three sub-counties of Maliba, Kilembe, and Bugoye.
Project Objectives
The Rainforest Alliance aims to combat child labor and address its root causes by:
- Enhancing coffee communities’ Child Labor Monitoring and Remediation Systems (CLMRS)
Supporting primary and secondary schools to establish school clubs, classroom registers, remedial teaching, training for teachers and school management committees, and more. - Improving livelihood opportunities
Training farmers on Good Agronomic Practices (GAPs) related to regenerative agriculture for improved coffee productivity; supporting coffee farmers to establish alternative income-generating activities and VSLAs (Village Savings and Loans Associations); and equipping youths with job skills and tools. - Strengthening due diligence
Developing and improving Kyagalanyi Coffee Limited’s and Nespresso’s due diligence processes of addressing child labor and human rights issues on farms and in the local communities.
Desired Impacts
The ultimate project goal is to eliminate child labor in the Rwenzori Mountains region by addressing its root causes. In doing so, we aim to create specific impacts for the partner communities, such as:
- Coffee farmers in the region have strengthened capacity and livelihood strategies that support their children’s development and education and do not involve child labor.
- Communities’ support structures are mitigating and remediating child labor situations sustainably within their areas.
- Through effective collaboration and learning from the applied approaches, international, national, and local supply chain actors are better equipped to tackle child labor through integrated approaches.
Funders
- Netherlands Enterprise Agency
- Nespresso
Implementing Partners
- The Rainforest Alliance
- Nespresso
- Community Empowerment for Rural Development
- Kyagalanyi Coffee Limited
Rainforest Alliance Contact
Rashida Nakabuga
Uganda director | rnakabuga@ra.org