From Home to Farm: Advancing Gender Equality in Uganda’s Coffee Sector
For Patrick Mutumwo, a coffee farmer in Kapchorwa District, the change started at home.
His coffee garden had become overgrown and yields were falling. After attending a household training with his wife, Doreen Chelangat, the couple developed a joint plan for their farm and began sharing responsibilities.
“We started weeding and monitoring the coffee garden together. What surprises many people is that the coffee garden is now healthier and more productive than ever before.”
ITC, 2026
The training uses the Gender Household Approach, which helps couples develop shared goals, make decisions together and divide responsibilities more fairly. The aim is simple: treat coffee farming as a shared family enterprise in which both women and men can contribute and benefit.
Changing businesses from within
The approach is part of the EU–EAC Market Access Upgrade Programme (MARKUP II), funded by the European Union and implemented by the International Trade Centre in partnership with the East African Community.
Through ITC’s SheTrades Initiative, coffee enterprises receive coaching to strengthen business practices while increasing women’s participation as suppliers, workers and decision-makers.
At Elgon Coffee Enterprises Limited, this has included improving supplier records, digitising coffee quality information and introducing delivery forms that encourage joint acknowledgement by spouses. The company has also expanded its supplier base and recorded increased participation of women delivering coffee.
At Mt. Elgon Agro Coffee Farmers’ Cooperative Enterprise, couples have developed household vision plans covering financial goals, farm management, responsibilities and coffee production.
Making participation possible
For some women, participation requires more than training.
Rwenzori Snows Youth Coffee Farmers’ Cooperative introduced a child-friendly space where women can safely leave young children while sorting coffee, attending training or delivering produce.
For cooperative member Juliet Masika, having her children nearby means she can work, breastfeed when needed and return to her tasks more easily. The cooperative has since recorded increased participation by women suppliers alongside higher coffee volumes and stronger organisational systems.
These results have several contributing factors, but they show how practical, family-friendly measures can help remove barriers that often limit women’s participation.
The changes are also influencing attitudes within communities.
“When we work together with our wives, our families become happier, our farms become more productive, and everyone benefits.” - Kule Joward Matakera, coffee farmer in Kyarumba
ITC, 2026
For Uganda’s coffee sector, making businesses more inclusive is not only about equality. It can strengthen the households, farms and enterprises on which a competitive and resilient coffee value chain depends.