Uganda team works to improve school and health infrastructure

Kyagalanyi-supported construction and contributions bring needed improvements to coffee communities.

Founded in 1992, Kyagalanyi Coffee Ltd is Volcafe’s company in Uganda and the country’s oldest licensed coffee exporter. Kyagalanyi works with thousands of coffee farmers in key coffee-growing regions including Mt Elgon, Rwenzori, and Masaka.

Kyagalanyi provides direct support and technical assistance to coffee communities through the Volcafe Way farmer support programme. This support can range from advice on improving coffee quality and techniques to adapt to climate change, to projects that address social challenges in the community. Our on-the-ground presence gives us insights into local opportunities for impact that can bring our sustainability strategy to life by enabling farmers to improve their livelihoods, combat climate change, or foster thriving communities beyond the coffee farms.

In 2023 and early 2024, our field teams took on several small-scale infrastructure projects that promised to yield major improvements at schools teaching over 5,000 pupils as well as a health clinic providing vital care. Such projects not only enhance the quality of life for some of the coffee communities where we work, but they also demonstrate Kyagalanyi and Volcafe’s commitment to responsible citizenship.

Here we embark on a tour of these facilities and the improvements Kyagalanyi has enabled.

Mount Elgon schools and health clinic

Located in Uganda’s east, the Kapchorwa and Mbale districts are on the slopes of Mount Elgon, the 4,000+ metre extinct volcano on the border with Kenya that is one of Uganda’s main coffee-growing areas. Kyagalanyi undertook renovations and new construction at two primary schools, in Gibuzale and Kapchorwa, as well as providing much-needed equipment to a health clinic in Manafwa.

The Gibuzale school lacked adequate sanitary facilities for students and teachers, with the existing structures very worn down and lacking privacy for the young students requiring a sanitary space during their periods. Kyagalanyi contributed funds and resources to build new washrooms with improved sewage systems for the teachers as well as the students. The girls’ restroom features six stalls, improved sewage systems, and a changing room that offers a private place for personal hygiene.

At Bugimotwa Primary School in Kapchorwa, Kyagalanyi identified two needs it could help fulfil. The girls’ dormitory was an aging, almost windowless structure made of mud bricks. The girls slept on an earthen floor. There was also a need for new teaching materials and textbooks, as the school’s materials were well-worn. Kyagalanyi coordinated the project to construct a new, 26-bed dormitory from bricks, concrete, and a metal roof, with windows and solid floors. To refresh the school’s library, Kyagalanyi purchased books and reading materials.

In Bukalasi, a coffee-growing community in Manafwa at the southern edge of the Mount Elgon region, one local health clinic was in need of repairs and new equipment. On a scouting visit, the Kyagalanyi team learned that the clinic had only two childbirth beds and a single delivery kit which had to be sterilised using a charcoal stove – not ideal for a facility averaging 20 deliveries per week. The beds’ mattresses were torn, the clinic’s scale was worn out, and a single drip stand had to be shared between the maternity, outpatient, and HIV support wards. While the clinic did have some solar installations for electricity, the battery capacity was insufficient to ensure lighting throughout the night or keep refrigerators with medicine and vaccines running full-time. To improve the situation at the clinic, Kyagalanyi supplied two additional delivery kits and a new sink for the maternity ward, ten new mattresses each with their own drip stand, three new scales, and higher-capacity solar batteries to stabilise the electrical supply.

Girls' restroom at Gibuzale school before the reconstruction.

The new restroom at Gibuzale school after reconstruction.

The girls' dormitory at the Bugimotwa school before reconstruction.

The newly built girls' dormitory at Bugimotwa school.

Marking the construction of the new dormitory at Bugimotwa school.

The well-used old scale at the Bukalasi clinic.

Kyagalanyi team members delivering new equipment to the Bukalasi clinic.

A new solar energy system being installed at the Bukalasi clinic

Staff pose with the newly installed solar electric control system.

New mattresses installed in the maternity ward at the clinic.

Rwenzori schools

The mountainous Rwenzori region is in Uganda’s west, on the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. Kyagalanyi works with many coffee communities in Rwenzori, and saw the chance to support needed improvements at two schools, in Kasese and Katerera.

The Ruboni primary school in Kasese’s classroom blocks were in a poor state of repair and latrines were lacking. Kyagalanyi undertook work to renovate two classroom blocks, replastering and painting the walls, fixing the floors, and improving the roof. A new, two-stall standing latrine was built on the school grounds.

At the Katerera school, our team learned of a number of problems with the existing school buildings, ranging from poorly constructed classrooms and a staff room, to a run-down nursery and kindergarten, to overcrowded girls’ dormitories and exposed outdoor bathrooms. Kyagalanyi provided resources to begin renovations of two classroom blocks, the construction of a new building for the nursery and kindergarten, a new staff room where teachers can prepare lessons, and a new dormitory with improved bathroom facilities.

Construction commenced in November 2023 and was completed by April 2024.

A newly renovated classroom at the the Ruboni school.

The exterior of the Katerera school before renovations began.

During construction of the new classroom block at Katerera.

Students visit a renovated classroom at the Katerera school.

Celebrating the renovated buildings at the Katerera school.

An interior photo of the new classroom at Katerera school.

Kampala schools

Kyagalanyi partnered with the NGO Tusome Africa to support three schools in Kampala, the national capital and home to Kyagalanyi’s main office. At each of the schools – St. Anthony, St. Aloysius, and St. Paul Buloba Catholic – children lacked sufficient access to books and other learning materials, and some unused classrooms sat empty, not serving a purpose.

The partners worked with the schools to refurbish these spare classrooms, cleaning them up and installing new shelves. To stock the shelves, Kyagalanyi will purchase new books and learning materials from Tusome to deliver to the schools. The work on these libraries commenced in January 2024 and they began serving students in April.

The newly established library and reading room at St Aloysius school.

A ceremony marking the opening of the reading room at St. Aloysius.

Kyagalanyi partners with the Tusome NGO to acquire books for the libraries.

‘These projects have improved the welfare of the people in the communities,’ says Asavia David Waiswa, a member of the Kyagalanyi team coordinating these initiatives. ‘The communities appreciate the value of education and the importance of keeping school-age children in school.’

‘Supporting the communities where we work with farmers to source coffee is another way that we are working toward a thriving, sustainable coffee business for all,’ adds Jeremy Mpalampa, General Manager of Volcafe in Uganda.