Our History
Arabica Coffee was introduced to Bugisu in Uganda by the then British Colonial Government in 1912. Rev. John Roscoe, a British priest, started the coffee growing practice in Bumudu/Buwalasi Sub-county in Budadiri County.
The first coffee nursery bed was established at Masekele in Bukiyiti Parish in 1915. Bukiyiti was the then seat of the North Bugisu county administration.
Between 1915 and 1931, Arabica Coffee was marketed by private traders, whose limited knowledge of the coffee drying, grading and storage process led to poor quality coffee and equitably low prices on the world market. The low prices contributed to formation of the Bugisu Coffee Scheme in 1931 to ensure high quality coffee by buying directly Bugisu farmers who processed and stored their coffee appropriately.
In 1929, the Bugisu Coffee Scheme sold its coffee to the Bugisu Coffee Marketing Co. which then exported it. In 1933, the Bugisu Coffee Board was set up to ensure that Bugisu coffee growers could own and operate their own entity. This Board built a healthy financial position for the scheme and fostered the growth of cooperatives in Uganda.
The Co-operative Societies Ordinance was enacted in 1946, leading to the recognition of cooperatives that had been established around the Bugisu Coffee Scheme. By 1951, Bugisu Coffee farmers had gained more representation on the Bugisu Coffee Board with three quarters of coffee growers as board members and with the Board taking over all Bugisu Coffee Scheme activities.
In 1952, four unions were formed and based at the coffee drying centers in Buyaga & Nampanga in Budadiri County, Busamaga in Bungokho County and Bubulo in Bubulo County