The Coffee Gardens’ Butawa microlot is a washed coffee produced by smallholder farmers in the village of Butawa, located on the mountain above the company’s processing station in Eastern Uganda. It is composed of Nyasaland, SL14, and SL28 varieties grown at 1,800–2,200 meters above sea level, where the cooler climate promotes slow cherry maturation and dense, high-quality beans. Freshly picked cherries are pulped and then undergo a 40-hour submerged fermentation in cold mountain spring water before being dried on African raised beds in solar dryers and sorted through 12 distinct quality control stages prior to export.

This microlot is sourced from 239 smallholder farmers, of whom 18% are women, with an average delivery of 91 kilograms of cherries per farmer and 50 bags exported, reflecting a focus on traceability and defined community sourcing rather than broad regional blending. The Coffee Gardens has been working with these producers for eight years, providing regular training and services aimed at improving yields, quality, incomes, and environmental outcomes. Training on Good Agricultural Practices includes stumping, pruning, and desuckering, planting and hole preparation, weeding and mulching, compost and cover crops, erosion prevention, safe agrichemical use, pest and disease management, and intercropping and agroforestry. In 2024, 488 farmers were surveyed and assessed on GAPs using a monitoring and evaluation framework developed with students from the London School of Economics, enabling performance tracking and farmer scorecards over time.

Within this network, model farmer Nabukwasi Grace illustrates the profile of a leading producer partner. Her family has supplied coffee to The Coffee Gardens since its establishment eight years ago, managing 10 gardens in Lower Bukyabo where warmer conditions increase vulnerability to pests and diseases. Grace has actively participated in training with The Coffee Gardens and Café Africa, emphasizing strong agronomic practices and sharing her experience by advising neighboring farmers on garden management. Her household sells both cherries and parchment to local traders, with Grace overseeing cherry deliveries to The Coffee Gardens and her husband responsible for pulping, while additional income is generated from bananas, beans, maize, cows, and chickens. In the 2024/25 harvest, she delivered 971 kilograms of cherries, equivalent to 13,109 espresso shots, demonstrating the connection between smallholder output and consumption volumes at the consumer end.