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The Bugisu Cooperative Union (BCU) is a Ugandan agricultural
cooperative federation
A cooperative federation or secondary cooperative is a cooperative in which all members are, in turn, cooperatives.
Historically, cooperative federations have predominantly come in the form of cooperative wholesale societies and cooperative unions ...
, established in July 1954.
It was started by a group of coffee farmers led by The Late EV.Samson Kitutu. A new Bugisu coffee
Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...
ordinance was enacted in 1955 providing for BCU ltd to take over all the marketing functions from the Bugisu coffee scheme as well as all the scheme's assets except the reserve funds which were still held by Bugisu coffee board for more visit the website of bugisu cooperative union bugisucooperativeunion.com
Overview
BCU is owned by coffee farmers who are organised in primary societies. Each primary society keeps a register of its fully paid-up members who elect a committee, which manages society's affairs. Each Primary society is represented by two delegates at an Annual General Meeting. In addition to other functions the AGM elects Board members who in turn appoint and supervise the management team. BCU also operates according to International Co-operatives Principles.
Methods of Farming
TheArabica coffee
''Coffea arabica'' (), also known as the Arabica coffee, is a species of flowering plant in the coffee and madder family Rubiaceae. It is believed to be the first species of coffee to have been cultivated and is the dominant cultivar, represe ...
in Bugisu grows on volcanic
A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface.
On Earth, volcanoes are most often fo ...
soils at an altitude of between 3800 ft and 14700 ft above sea level. The roasted Arabica coffee
''Coffea arabica'' (), also known as the Arabica coffee, is a species of flowering plant in the coffee and madder family Rubiaceae. It is believed to be the first species of coffee to have been cultivated and is the dominant cultivar, represe ...
beans have a mild sweet aroma and good taste. Arabica coffee is grown on small gardens owned by individual farmers . This coffee is mostly organically grown but in some cases fertilizers are applied.
Processing
Primary Processing involves the pulping of ripe coffee cherries, the fermenting, the washing thoroughly with clean water and drying it on wire mesh placed two meters above the ground to avoid contamination. In addition, BCU owns central pulperies where coffee berries are pulped on large scale and dried under controlled temperatures. After the coffee has dried the farmer sells it to the primary society, which in turn delivers it to BCU mill. At BCU curing works, coffee is inspected, tasted for moisture content and weighed before it is stored in the soil.Location
BCU Ltd is situated on Plot 46 Pallisa Road inMbale
Mbale is a city in the Eastern Region of Uganda. It is the main municipal, administrative, and commercial center of Mbale District and the surrounding sub-region.
Location
Mbale is approximately northeast of Kampala, Uganda's capital city, on ...
town in Bugisu sub-region in Eastern Uganda
Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...
n, East Africa.{{cite web, title=About Uganda, url=http://www.aboutuganda.com/uganda/food-drink/uganda-coffeeprocessorsdealers-and-exporters It is 256 kilometers (160 miles) from kampala, the capital city. Bugisu is found on the slopes of Mt.Elgon.
References