Uganda - Maliba

For the same producers as our award winning Kyondo, we bring you this new extended fermentation lot - Maliba. Expect at the sweet tropical notes we’ve come to love as well as a boozy undertone from the longer fermentation time.

One of our personal favourites, this fruit bomb from Uganda has been sourced through Martin at social enterprise, Agri Evolve, whose son works on the coffee farms in the Rwenzori mountains in Uganda.

Maliba is at 1600 masl in the foothills of the Rwenzoris, with many farmers living and growing coffee well above this height. Agri Evolve established a buying centre here for the local farmers. Farmers typically have between 1 and 2 acres of land and coffee is their main cash crop.

Ripe, red coffee cherries are harvested daily during the harvest season and taken to the buying centre. The cherries are weighed, assessed for quality and the farmers are paid in cash. From here trucks carry the cherries to their Coffee Station at Nyabirongo. This batch has undergone a period of anaerobic fermentation with the ripe cherries sealed in plastic sacks for 48 hrs. Following this the cherries were spread out to dry on raised beds in the traditional Natural process, with cherries being turned by hand on a regular basis. The dried cherries are then hulled and the beans graded and sorted before final preparation and bagging ready for export. The extended fermentation has produced a cup profile quite different from the sweet and fruity profile normally associated with Rwenzori Natural coffee. There is still sweetness but with additional boozy notes.

As well as producing exceptional coffee, Agri Evolve is committed to Uganda’s communities and environment and has launched the ACE 2030 project to positively impact the farmers, communities and environment where they live and work.

Agriculture is at the very heart of community in the Rwenzoris. Farming to produce food, and cash crops, is the main activity for 80% of the population. By encouraging an open and transparent market, provided training and support for farmers, Agri Evolve has created employment for many local people. Through their work with over 10,000 farmers and their families, they’ve channelled investment from overseas and transformed the infrastructure for coffee processing. By encouraging coffee farmers to be business focused, Agri Evolve has generated growth and opportunity throughout the local area. Coffee yields have improved in volume, but more importantly in quality. Prices paid to farmers are significantly higher than a few years ago. Wealth is being created  which brings significant benefit to the farmer, their families and the whole community.

Through their community projects, Agri Evolve has also provided pit latrines for a local school, a water borehole in their local town, supported a local organisation providing craft training for young people who have dropped out of school, mentored youth teams and contributed to relief efforts following local flooding which destroyed homes and infrastructure.