Solar tunnels to dry coffee parchment

MEACCE (Mount Elgon Agroforestry Communities Cooperative Enterprise Ltd.) is a secondary level cooperative owned by 12 primary societies with a combined membership of approx. 3,300 farmers that grow Arabica coffee on the slopes of Mt Elgon (in Eastern Uganda). The ultimate goal of MEACCE is to ensure that the little proceeds and premiums generated from the sale of members’ coffee are invested in community development projects that are geared towards improving their standards of living, climate change adaptation and mitigation as well as promoting gender equality and social inclusion.

The EFTA Climate Justice Fund will support MEACCE to install 3 solar tunnels to dry coffee parchment. The traditional method used by coffee farmers on mount Elgon is open air drying (the simplest and cheapest method, where coffee parchment is spread on the ground and turned regularly until sufficiently dried). However, the open air drying has some disadvantages as it requires both large amount of space and long drying time, with exposure to rain and dust. The crop can get damaged because of hostile weather conditions and infestation by insects, which could lead to crop contamination and/or poor quality of the dried coffee. Most farmers could not afford expensive mechanical drying equipment, which would also need to be powered with fossil fuels. The new solar tunnels will allow for a enable a cheaper, quicker, safer and zero-emissions coffee drying process. Moreover, the quality of the coffee is expected to improve.