11 hours ago10 min read
Closing the Gender Gap in Uganda’s Coffee Sector: How Traceability and Training Empower Women Farmers
- Gusi Ayu Putri Chandrika Sari
- 3 days ago
- 9 min read
Editor’s Note:
This article draws insights from Tarsis Katimbo, our Business Development Officer for Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region. Their reflections uncover the often-hidden realities of Uganda’s coffee sector, particularly the vital yet under-recognized role of women farmers. By amplifying these stories, we aim to highlight the gender gaps that persist across the supply chain and encourage dialogue on building a more inclusive and equitable future for Uganda’s coffee industry.
Executive Summaries:
Women make up 77% of Uganda’s agricultural workforce. Yet despite this dominance, most women do not own the land they cultivate, lack access to credit, and are excluded from the decision-making structures that govern cooperatives and coffee marketing. Access, ownership, and control over productive resources remain significant barriers (UNDP, 2020).
In fact, only 31% of women in Uganda are landowners, while the remaining 69% access land only through spouses or male relatives (UNDP, 2020). On top of this, male coffee workers consistently earn more than their female counterparts, reflecting entrenched cultural norms and misconceptions about women in leadership.
Traceability and gender inclusion are closely linked. Koltiva’s traceability, training, and inclusivity solutions bring visibility, recognition, and empowerment to women farmers. Inclusive supply chains not only deliver fairness but also create resilience, productivity, and long-term sustainability for businesses and communities.
The Hidden Inequities in Uganda’s Coffee Industry
Uganda’s rolling green hills and fertile soils have long positioned the country as one of the world’s leading producers of Robusta coffee. As a top producer, the nation thrives on the dedication of smallholder farmers who fuel this success. Yet behind the bold brew lies an overlooked reality: women, the backbone of Uganda’s agricultural sector, remain largely unseen, undervalued, and under-supported.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) estimates that 77% of Uganda’s agricultural workforce are women. Yet despite this dominance, most do not own the land they cultivate, lack access to credit, and are excluded from the decision-making structures that govern cooperatives and coffee marketing. Access, ownership, and control over productive resources remain significant barriers. For example, only 31% of women in Uganda are landowners, while 69% rely on access mediated through spouses or male relatives (UNDP, 2020). Furthermore, male coffee workers consistently earn more than their female counterparts, reflecting entrenched cultural norms and misconceptions about women in leadership.
Lack of land ownership restricts women’s ability to make long-term agricultural investments and limits their access to financial services, as collateral remains out of reach. From planting and harvesting to sorting and drying, women are present at every step of the supply chain. Yet men often control decision-making, financial access, and profits. This imbalance not only curtails women’s economic empowerment but also undermines the sustainability and inclusivity of Uganda’s agricultural sector.
The Role of Women on Uganda’s Coffee Farms: The Invisible Backbone
In the downstream stages of processing, production planning, and marketing (selling and receiving payments), women are often excluded because men control the income generated. In many East African contexts, men handle the mechanized processing and financial decision-making, leaving women shut out of the economic gains (Farming First, 2021). This exclusion is further reinforced by generational customs that pass land down through male heirs, effectively preventing women from land ownership and participation in formal cooperatives.
To join a cooperative, for instance, farmers must own at least a few coffee plants. But ownership is often denied to women, creating yet another barrier to participation and equity (Farm Africa, 2024).
Barriers Facing Women Coffee Farmers in Uganda
Coffee is one of Uganda’s most important cash crops and a vital source of household income. Yet, despite their central role in farming and post-harvest activities, women continue to face systemic barriers that limit their participation and economic gains from the coffee supply chain.
These constraints prevent women from building sustainable livelihoods in the commercial coffee sector and from fully benefiting from the value they help create:
Limited Access to Land Ownership
Most women cultivate land registered under men’s names, restricting their autonomy in decision-making and limiting long-term security in farming.
Restricted Financial Inclusion
Without collateral, women struggle to access formal credit, agricultural loans, or financial services, leaving them dependent on informal networks that often charge higher interest rates.
Unequal Access to Information
Agricultural extension services and training programs remain largely male-dominated, reducing women’s exposure to new farming techniques, certification standards, and market opportunities.
Invisible Labor
Women’s unpaid labor particularly in post-harvest handling, household food security, and family care, remains undervalued and absent from formal economic statistics, despite being critical to household and supply chain success.
Without intentional action, these inequalities will continue to deepen rural poverty and prevent women from reaching their full potential as agricultural entrepreneurs.
Table of Index
How to Empower Women Through Transparency and Capacity Building
Beyond the moral imperative, promoting gender equity strengthens the entire coffee supply chain. When women have equal access to land, financing, training, and cooperative leadership, the outcomes are tangible. Koltiva has long championed inclusive supply chains that are deforestation-free, transparent, and equitable. We believe that a truly sustainable agricultural future must leave no farmer behind, especially women. Through integrated solutions in traceability, training, and digital inclusion, we help agribusinesses ensure farmers gain the recognition, tools, and opportunities they deserve. With KoltiTrace, we bring full visibility to the supply chain, while KoltiSkills gives farmers, especially women, the tools, training, and confidence to grow their skills and take on leadership roles.
Below, we break down how these solutions, along with our other initiatives, actively empower women throughout the coffee supply chain:
Traceability & Transparency
Traceability and transparency play a transformative role in leveling the playing field. By ensuring every product can be traced from farm to market, we create fairer pricing mechanisms, equal market access, and pathways to financial inclusion for all genders.
For women farmers in particular, having their contributions formally recorded in supply chain data ensures that their names and labor are no longer invisible. This visibility not only brings recognition—it also enables women to access premium markets that reward traceability, sustainability, and quality, unlocking new opportunities for income growth.
Training & Coaching
Group training sessions provide women with opportunities to voice their opinions, express themselves, and bring forward new perspectives from a woman’s point of view.
At the same time, these sessions expand women’s access to practical knowledge through hands-on training in soil health, pest management, water conservation, and climate-smart practices. Improved techniques help increase yields and bean quality, making farmers more competitive in international markets. Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) also encourages adaptation to climate change through diversified crops, agroforestry, and sustainable land management, while promoting conservation of forests, biodiversity, and ecosystems to reduce the environmental footprint of agriculture.
Gender Equity through GALS (Gender Action Learning System)
Through GALS, gender participation increases and drives shifts in social norms, helping to build more inclusive communities where both women and men are equally recognized.
The approach strengthens women farmers’ identity and visibility in managing household finances and farm activities, while also reducing the double burden many women face in balancing domestic and agricultural work. By promoting fair division of tasks and joint decision-making, GALS creates more inclusive households and farming systems, fostering stability and mutual respect between partners.
Child Labor prevention through CLRMS (Child Labour Monitoring & Remediation System)
Early risk identification with continuous monitoring detects children at risk of or engaged in child labor across farming communities. Businesses can report transparently on child labor risks and demonstrate proactive remediation measures in their supply chains. CLMRS helps break the cycle of poverty, keeps children in school and out of fields, and ensures the next generation has better opportunities.
Child Labour Monitoring & Remediation System in KoltiTrace
Case in Point: Driving Inclusivity and Compliance with Uganda Coffee Agribusiness
In Uganda’s coffee-growing regions, Koltiva is supporting a local coffee business to strengthen both compliance and inclusivity across its supply chain. At the heart of this effort is KoltiTrace, our digital traceability platform, which enables detailed farmer assessments with a strong focus on sustainability, ethical sourcing, and gender equity. By embedding traceability, sustainability compliance, and EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) monitoring into daily operations, the coffee supply chain is now aligned with Rainforest Alliance, Organic, and Fairtrade standards.
Through farm mapping, satellite monitoring, and data-driven verification, we enhance transparency while providing accurate deforestation risk assessments. This helps the client meet its deforestation-free commitments. Beyond compliance, Koltiva delivers training in sustainable farming, climate resilience, and ethical labor standards. These interventions improve coffee quality, increase farmer incomes, and ensure that women farmers—once invisible in records—are now formally recognized and able to access premium markets, finance, and leadership opportunities.
The following three focus areas illustrate how inclusivity and sustainability are embedded in operations:
Gender inclusivity compliance
Using KoltiTrace, the client’s team can monitor whether women are meaningfully involved in decision-making at household, cooperative levels, and access to training programs. Data revealed that women farmers had previously been excluded from records; now, their recognition enables meaningful involvement and equitable opportunities.
Organic farming practices
We provide verification mechanisms to ensure that farmers’ practices align with the business’s organic certification claims. This includes monitoring pesticide use, soil fertility management, and crop diversification. By digitizing farm inspections and training sessions, the coffee farmers were confirmed to meet organic certification standards, with targeted capacity building provided to those who required improvement.
Regenerative agriculture alignment
Through field training and digital reporting, we measure farmers’ adoption of regenerative practices such as agroforestry, intercropping, and soil conservation techniques. With tailored coaching, the client is now scaling regenerative methods to the wider farmer base, ensuring compliance not only with sustainability certifications but also with buyers’ expectations for climate-smart sourcing.
Using KoltiTrace, a digital platform customized to the client’s goals, the business captures vital farm-level data. By verifying these indicators, the company strengthens its position with downstream buyers who increasingly demand transparency, traceability, and ethical sourcing.
The results show that empowering women in agriculture delivers impact far beyond individual farms. Equal access to training, resources, and recognition improves livelihoods, strengthens communities, and builds more resilient supply chains. At Koltiva, we are proud to work alongside businesses committed to turning these values into action—building coffee supply chains in Uganda that are not only compliant and traceable but also inclusive and sustainable.
Tarsis Katimbo, our Business Development Officer for Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), emphasized this point during the Coffee Marathon 2025, where he ran in solidarity with Uganda’s women coffee farmers:
“Empowering women in agriculture creates real change not just on farms, but in families, communities, and entire supply chains. When women are recognized as equal decision-makers, we see improvements in productivity, household income, and community well-being. In Uganda’s coffee sector, closing the gender inclusion gap is key to unlocking the country’s full agricultural potential.”
He added that visibility is the first step: “Through KoltiTrace, women farmers are no longer overlooked. Formal recognition in supply chain data translates into access to training, finance, and leadership opportunities. Inclusion in decision-making is what truly drives long-term change.”
Sustainability is not only about climate or deforestation—it’s also about people. By helping farmers adopt regenerative practices while ensuring gender equity, we’re aligning Uganda’s coffee supply chain with global market requirements and ensuring no farmer is left behind.
Reflecting on the marathon, Tarsis shared, “I wasn’t running for sport, I was running for a cause. It was a powerful reminder that the resilience of women farmers is the backbone of Uganda’s coffee industry. Standing in solidarity with them is both part of my work and a personal commitment.”
At Koltiva, we’re proud to work with businesses serious about doing better—building supply chains that are not only traceable, but truly inclusive and sustainable. Together with our partners, we will continue to champion women farmers, ensuring they are not only part of the story but leaders of the future. If you believe in sourcing that uplifts people and protects the planet, we’re here to help you make it happen. Let’s turn values into action. Let’s talk.
Author: Gusi Ayu Putri Chandrika Sari, Social Media Officer at Koltiva
Co-author: Tarsis Katimbo, Business Development Officer for Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) at Koltiva
Editor: Daniel Prasetyo, Head of Public Relations and Corporate Communications at Koltiva
Gusi Ayu Putri Chandrika Sari combines her expertise in digital marketing and social media with a deep commitment to sustainability, supported by over eight years of experience in communications. Her work focuses on crafting impactful narratives that connect technology, agriculture, and environmental responsibility. She is driven by a passion for promoting sustainable practices through compelling, audience-focused content across a variety of digital platforms.
Tarsis Katimbo is a Business Development Officer at Koltiva, where he spearheads growth and engagement across the EMEA region, including Uganda. He brings strategic leadership to Koltiva’s mission of building transparent, sustainable, and inclusive agricultural supply chains
Resources:
Farm Africa. (n.d.). Women in coffee: Working towards gender equality in Kanungu. https://www.farmafrica.org/women-in-coffee-working-towards-gender-equality-in-kanungu/
Farm Africa. (2024, June). Women in coffee: Working towards gender equality in Kanungu [Report]. https://www.farmafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/coffee-report-latest-26.09-v5-final-spread.pdf
Okia, B. (2021, February 16). Empowering women in Uganda’s coffee sector. Farming First. https://farmingfirst.org/2021/02/empowering-women-in-ugandas-coffee-sector/
Uganda Coffee Development Authority. (2025, June 23). Coffee exports reach record-breaking US $1.14 billion, highest in value in 30 years [Press release]. https://ugandacoffee.go.ug/index.php/node/1219
United Nations Development Programme. (2020, December 18). Uganda gender analysis [Research report]. UNDP Climate Promise. https://climatepromise.undp.org/sites/default/files/research_report_document/undp-ndcsp-uganda-gender-analysis.pdf
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