Our history
Long story short
Mannya Coffee Farmers’ Cooperative Society Limited was formed in August 2019 and currently has 200 members, and growing.
Mannya is located in southern Uganda, 9 km. west of Ssanje and not far from the border with Tanzania. Mannya is 71 km from Masaka, the principal city in the south Uganda.
The main cash crop is coffee, though other crops are grown at subsistence level, the surplus being sold to cater for family basic needs.
Historically Mannya was known for its inaccessibility with many deep potholes on the road to Ssanje, often making the road impassible, especially during the wet season. Thus Mannya became known as the “Land of potholes”.
Mannya as a parish started in 1986. The people were always very active, co-operative, hard working and very willing to learn. They never paid any attention to differences in culture nor religion. They had a strong sense of unity.
Currently, the population of Mannya parish is estimated to be over 40,000 people.
The household income for the majority of the people is very low, and many cannot support their families with basic needs like education, health, clothing, shelter, and food. To address this issue a coffee hulling and grading factory was donated by parishioners of St Bernard’s Parish, Belmont, Victoria, Australia, and the Mannya Coffee Farmers Cooperative Society was formed in August 2019. Empowerment of local coffee farmers continues on an ongoing basis, thereby lifting the hopes of many Mannya people.
Locality
Mannya area has a picturesque landscape with hills and low lands. Some hills are rather steep with sharp valleys from which much water gathers during the wet seasons and flows to the low lands thereby leading to flooding. Soils are generally fertile and can grow a variety of crops. There are two rain seasons a year, early March – late June, and late August to December.