Semuliki Cocoa Business Hub Project

About Solution

Semuliki Cocoa Business Hub is intended to address key challenges facing smallholder cocoa producers in the Semuliki River Basin in western Uganda. These challenges include; limited access to better markets, limited access to affordable financial services, limited access to extension and agribusiness advisory services. Semuliki Cooperative Union which is a union of over 5000 smallholder cocoa producers proposes to establish Cocoa Business Hub as a one stop center providing different services aimed at addressing the above challenges. To address the above challenges the union will through the Business Hub undertake the following actions: On limited access to market, the union will organize and build capacity of the smallholder cocoa producers to collectively process and market "Cocoa of Good Quality” to international markets. The union will also pursue multiple certification and traceability scheme (fairtrade, organic, UTZ/Rainforest Alliance, Cocoa-Trace ) in order to win specialty markets that offer better prices and provide premiums.On access to affordable finances, the union initiated a Saving and credit Scheme which has been registered as a separate saving and credit cooperative (SACCO) by the government. Here farmers save after cocoa sales. However, the challenge is the distance the farmers travel to transact business with the SACCO. To address this the union intends to establish mobile saving and credit services (MSACCO) such that members can transact business with the SACCO from their locations.To address the challenges of limited extension and agribusiness advisory services, the union will adopt the Farmer Business School(FBS) model. The Hub will have master trainers who will offer trainings and agribusiness advisory services specific on cocoa business. A farmer to farmer approach will be adopted by the hub for quick replication and of knowledge and information. A cocoa business information resource center will be established at the hub from where farmers will access different kind of information required for their cocoa business.

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