Educating the next generation of farmers
In order to guide and encourage a new generation of specialty coffee farmers, Rwamatamu have come up with the plans for a Youth Cooperative. The Youth Cooperative will be for 18 - 35 year olds interested in learning environmentally sustainable and economically profitable coffee farming practices.
Training, income, and first hand experience
Rwamatamu's Youth Cooperative will give its members hands-on training from established agronomists as the group cultivate a communal lot of coffee trees. The profits made after harvest will also be distributed back to the young farmers as an added financial incentive.
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Funding this project will go towards supplies such as coffee trees, shade trees, plants for intercropping, fertiliser, organic pesticides, and the leasing of farmland to the cooperative.
Price Breakdown
3 Hectares of land
$6,000
Yearly labour costs*
$540
Seedlings
$75
Fertiliser
$45
Microbes
$15
Mulching
$15
Molasses
$5
Intercrops
$5
Total Cost
$6,700
*While the Youth Cooperative will be handling crop care and harvest, additional labour will be needed to help with the more physically intense tasks like tilling and planting.
