Shared Interest Foundation: Strengthening the resilience of coffee farmers through income diversification (project update)

Launched in April 2021, this project supported 365 coffee farmers (40% women) in rural Uganda to increase their household resilience through growing passion fruits to generate a second source of income and implement improved farming practices. This project also supported Bukonzo Organic Coffee Co-operative, our project partner, to increase their business management capacity and improve the support they provide to their members.

Key activities delivered through this project include;

1. Planting of 3,650 native shade trees
2. Distribution of over 18,500 climate and disease resistant passion fruit seeds
3. Training in passion fruit production and management techniques
4. Training in Good Agricultural Practices, Climate Smart Farming methods and organic compost production
5. Training in Agri-business skills and VSLA management
6. Bukonzo capacity building training in finance and management skills

Impacts of the project

We recently concluded a final evaluation with a sample of 189 farmers to understand the impact of this project, four years after activities originally started.

Below are some of the key impact results.

• 99% of farmers surveyed are still farming passion fruits. Two farmers reported they are no longer producing passion fruits due to the poor health of their farms.
• 95% of farmers reported an increase in passion fruit production over the past two years
• The average income from the farmers earned from the sale of passion fruits increased from £263 in 2023 to £395 in 2025
• 40% of farmers surveyed have processed their passion fruits into juice which they have also sold on the local market for additional income.
• With the income earned, 84% of farmers have reinvested to expand their farm planting a total of 18,331 new passion fruit plants
• 99% of farmers reported teaching their friends and family members about passion fruit production methods.
• Since being trained in Good Agricultural Practices and Climate Smart Farming methods, 97% of farmers have planted new coffee trees and 99% of farmers are satisfied with their production, compared to only 7% that were satisfied at the start of this project.
• 94% of farmers have reported an overall increase in household income enabling them to pay school fees, purchase household food and purchase agri-inputs. Three farmers reported they have established a new business to further diversify their income streams.

A Conversation with project participant, Salatiere Humba

Salatiere has been a coffee farmer since 2005. He was originally interested in participating in this project to gain knowledge in management and skills of coffee and passion fruit production and to increase his household income.

Before this project, Salatiere had tried to grow passion fruits, but due to low knowledge in pest and soil management, his production was low.

Following this project, Salatiere told us:

 “This project assisted me to gain skills in managing crops, provided improved seedlings for planting, farm tools and equipment. I learnt how to make planting holes, how to maintain soil fertility, control of pest and diseases and basics of proper harvesting. All this enabled me to expand my passion fruit farm up to 120 plants. I am satisfied with the increased seasonal production and sales annually. Last year, I harvested and sold 5 bags £310.”

“My income from coffee and passion fruits enabled my household to have an increased and sustained income, pay for children’s’ tuition and school materials timely, improved nutrition and have the courage to save weekly.”

Build a fairer world with Shared Interest Foundation

These findings demonstrate that this project has led to considerable improvements in agricultural productivity, financial resilience, and livelihood diversification. With the support of Bukonzo, farmers have access to a sustainable and reliable local market and Bukonzo is continuing to explore opportunities to sell to national buyers. Farmers also highlighted opportunities in passion fruit value addition to improve product shelf life and open up greater market opportunities. This is an area we intend to explore further with Bukonzo.

We hope you enjoyed reading this project update. If you have any questions on this project, please speak to a member of the Foundation team at foundation@shared-interest.com