Uganda: Now Africa Initiative

The Chain Collaborative’s longest-standing Community-Led Development Partnership is with Now Africa Initiative (NAI), a grassroots farmer organization located in Nyamigoye parish in Kanyantorogo sub-county, Kanungu District, Southwestern Uganda. Founded by local leader Denis Twinamatsiko, NAI’s mission is to play a catalytic role in contributing to the socio-economic transformation of rural Uganda through sustainable agricultural development and educational improvements. As part of this mission, they have established social, economic, and environmental programming for the adults and children in their region, impacting lives and livelihoods for the past eight years. Their next goal is to build the first-ever coffee mill in their region of Southwestern Uganda. This mill will allow the 300 smallholder farming families associated with NAI to add value to their coffee through primary processing and quality upgrades. They will also be able to sell more directly for the first time, ensuring greater supply chain traceability and in turn, a higher price. Lastly, this increased infrastructure will allow NAI to invest more profits back into their community. At present, they invest their earnings in their primary school and in farmer education.

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Since 2014, with accompaniment from TCC, NAI has been able to:

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  • Build the Karama Education Center (KEC) to serve as a primary school for children and a learning center for adult farmers
  • Make operational a coffee storage center that allows 300 farmers to properly store their coffee and sell collectively for the first time, raising their incomes by 38% annually
  • Develop a Lead Farmer Program and deliver a menu of trainings to their members
  • Build a new library and organic garden at KEC and launch a water, sanitation, and hygiene program