Emergency Flood Relief for Bukonzo Joint Coop Union
This week, one of our long-term coffee producers, Bukonzo Joint Cooperative Union in Uganda, was heavily impacted by severe flooding and landslides. This region of Uganda has been heavily affected by climate change, with the area suffering from several events of severe flooding in previous years.
As producers of high quality, specialty Arabica coffee beans that are certified organic and fair trade, Bukonzo Joint incorporates sustainable and fair practices throughout their supply chain, while also supporting gender equality in coffee production. In the past few years, BJCU has used their fair trade premiums to build shade structures for their coffee drying area, install roofing above the micro-wash stations and improve their green bean storage facilities. They also implemented a gender-inclusive program called Gender Action Learning Systems (GALS) that improves gender equity and communication, thereby enabling women to participate in coffee production at the same level as men.
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Their green beans have been a consistent component in Salt Spring Coffee’s Blue Heron and Holiday Blend over the years and have defined the flavour of both. As a long-term partner of BJCU, we want to help them in the aftermath of the flooding. As of May 9, 2024, there has been no NGO or government assistance yet, so the leadership team at BJCU set up a $10,000 goal to cover expenses for community needs like basic food and sanitary items including soap, rice, cooking oil, and mosquito nets. The goal is to send these items to them as early as next week.
A GoFundMe has been set up to collect funds for emergency flood relief. If you would like to make a donation (big or small - anything counts), click here.
In addition, Salt Spring Coffee is raising funds to help rebuild their community by donating 10% of all sales online at saltspringcoffee.com to the emergency flood relief. Support the Bukonzo Joint Cooperative Union with your purchase from May 9th to May 20th, 2024 and order today on saltspringcoffee.com
