In Bududa, a lush yet landslide-prone district of eastern Uganda, Mary Butsina and a growing number of other women farmers are building their livelihoods around coffee. "I'm supporting all of my 10 children with it." says the 36-year-old, holding a red bucket.
From farming stock, Mary first went to work with her father at the age of 10. Profits from his coffee crop covered her school fees. She married into coffee too, with her husband giving her 100 trees as a wedding present. But Mary's since planted more than 300 herself and joined a women's cooperative. "The aim was to reduce the dependence of women on men in coffee." Mary says, though husbands are allowed to join too—as they tend to own the coffee plantations and support their wives. "More women have started to plant their own coffee." she says.
Mary rises early every day to pick the coffee cherries. "It's hard work but when you concentrate it can become easy." says Mary. After gathering the ripe fruit, she puts it in a bucket of water to weed out the unhealthy cherries. The beans are then fermented (发酵) in water for at least two days before being laid out to dry in direct sunlight. Once dried, the beans are gathered up and later collected by Endiro Coffee, a social enterprise working with women-led, organic farms. The coffee is later milled, roasted and ground, ready for use.
It hasn't been an easy journey for the Bududa farmers, who've faced annual landslides for the past 15 years. In 2018, Mary's mother's house was destroyed and she lost some of her coffee plantations. She dreams of living in a solidly built house with water nearby, so she doesn't have to trek (跋涉) a long way to fetch it－but these will take time to save for. "I've worked a lot and I don't want to stop, but I want my money to work for me." she says.
