SI AnnRev2021 web - Flipbook - Page 21
SHARED INTEREST SOCIETY ANNUAL REVIEW 2021 21
As part of our
monitoring
and evaluation
process, we carry
out research
to examine the
longer-term
outcomes of our
support. We select
businesses we
have worked with
for five years or
more and explore
the direct impact
Shared Interest
finance has on
the business in
question and the
indirect effect it
may also have
on the wider
community.
Here are some
highlights:
Kibinge
Lemberona
Founded by four coffee farmers in 1995,
Kibinge Coffee Farmers’ Co-operative
Society Limited is named after the region
in which is located in Central Uganda.
The area is renowned for its high-quality
Robusta coffee.
Lemberona was established as a
family-owned business in Austria. It now
distributes a wide range of high quality
organic and Fairtrade dried fruits, herbs and
nuts, primarily from Uzbekistan.
In 2012, Shared Interest supported
Kibinge in pre-financing 13 contracts
with international Fairtrade buyers.
Kibinge General Manager David
Lukwata said:
“Shared Interest believed in us.
We were able to export our first
container using Shared Interest
funding. We appreciate Shared
Interest for believing in us when
no one wanted to assist us.”
Lemberona is now entering a new phase
following the recruitment of a new Managing
Director and Financial Director. This
restructuring allows Elmira to focus on
growing areas such as product innovation,
farmer support and Fairtrade liaison.
Elmira said:
As their profit has increased, the
co-operative has purchased land to set up
an office space and processing facility as
well as a truck to transport coffee to the
processing plant.
“Thanks to Shared Interest,
Lemberona can help the small
farmers to make an honest living
with their own hands and have
proud families and communities.”
Alto Huallaga
TradeAID
Alto Huallaga is a cocoa co-operative
located in the Huánuco region of central
Peru. Membership covers a wide area
and varied altitudes, which increases the
sustainability of production.
TradeAID Integrated is a not for profit
organisation working with 65 basket weaver
groups in the Upper East Region of Ghana.
Nicholas Apokerah founded the organisation
after discovering that weavers were earning
20% less than the final retail price of their
baskets.
Since becoming a Shared Interest
customer in 2013, the co-operative has
doubled its number of employees, and
now works with more than 500 farmers,
over a third of which are women.
General Manager Jorge Simon said:
“The support gave us stability, the
interest rate is good, we have good
cash flow and it has generated
confidence in the farmers and the
workers. When I started, the
co-operative owed money to all workers
and now it doesn’t owe anything.”