Coffee mill and chicken incubator

Quality assurance system for the production of gourmet coffee

The companies Farm Mountain Coffee and Agro Business Development wanted to investigate the possibility of exploiting the market for gourmet coffee in Denmark. The result was the Farm Mountain project, which was supported by the Danida B2B program during a pilot phase.

The aim of the pilot phase was to develop a handling and quality assurance system for the production of high quality coffee for the European gourmet market. In short time, it proved very successful.

Originally, 32 farmers from the Bududa district of Mount Elgon in eastern Uganda were organized to produce a better quality of coffee beans – through training and close cooperation. Today, 930 farmers from 4 districts (Bududa, Sironko, Kapchorwa and Bufumbo) at Mount Elgon are involved in the project. Exports to Denmark have increased from 20 MT (mega tonnes) during the first three years to 40 MT in 2014.

The partners therefore feel motivated to continue the collaboration and have decided to set up a joint venture. But while the partners in the pilot phase focused on the production and export of coffee to the Danish market, they will now also look at other markets – including regional and domestic markets. They will now also look at the market for generic coffee (normal quality) as well as the market for green beans to increase the company’s turnover and profitability. To achieve these goals, they need to invest in a coffee factory and increase the current storage facilities, especially to control the handling of the coffee and the logistics.

Access2innovation has allocated funds to the company Agro Business Development Ltd. to work with Farm Mountain Coffee and the small coffee farmers on Mt. Elgon and Uganda.

Incubator makes chickens more nutritious and improves nutritional health

Rethinking the African agriculture and creating commercial farming is essential in order to meet the increasing demand for food. 

Production of protein sources such as chickens are important for the nutritional health, but equally so for its market value.

Sunchick is a cooperation between the Danish companies Agro Business Development Ltd. and Danki Ltd. They have developed community based solar powered incubator units for sustainable chicken and egg production funded by micro loans.

With its design it enables a stable and controlled production cycle from egg to chicken all year round – securing a rise in the hatching process from 10 percent to 69 percent. With controlled feed supply, the chicken also become much more nutrient. This produces a high-quality mix of eggs and broiler meat for the consumer segment.

With the enclosed compartments it is even possible to collect the chicken waste and use it as fertilizer. For the local producer, the chicken incubator improves yields dramatically by creating an enclosed, properly heated, more hygienic environment for the eggs to ensure lower mortality rates and provide healthier chickens.

Evidently, the production provides better quality with limited fixed costs thanks to built-in solar system.

The incubator project is now being scaled up with the installation of 23 units in Uganda with funding from the Bestseller Foundation.