In late September 2017, two employees from Zensho Holdings' Fair Trade Department traveled to Uganda. In Uganda, they conduct fair trade of coffee beans (Arabica and Robusta varieties) in two regions. The main purpose of this trip was to check on the status of a clinic built with social development costs ^* and opened in October 2016, and to discuss the future use of social development costs. Of course, they also checked on the coffee bean cultivation conditions together with the producers.

In the Robusta breeding region, long wait times at hospitals were a major source of frustration for residents. This hospital covered a large area, and with only two doctors seeing over 100 patients a day, the long wait times were a constant source of hardship for the sick.

Therefore, a clinic was built using social development costs. This clinic is open six days a week, Monday through Saturday, and provides consultations and treatment for minor illnesses, as well as testing for more than 15 diseases, including malaria and HIV. Local residents are grateful to be freed from the long waiting times at existing hospitals.

Furthermore, the coffee producers' cooperative conducts health checkups for its producers at this clinic. These checkups have allowed for early detection of illnesses, preventing serious complications for some individuals, demonstrating the clinic's contribution to the healthy lives of local residents.

For our next social development project, we proposed improving traditional stoves, a solution that had been well-received in other countries. In this region, three-stone stoves like the one pictured are common, and health problems caused by smoke and environmental damage due to the heavy use of firewood were a concern. To address these issues, we began designing a practical, improved stove suited to local life.

In Arabica coffee-producing regions, we spoke with producers to check on the usage of maternity wards attached to clinics that we had previously supported, and to discuss future social development support.

One of the current problems in the maternity ward is securing a supply of clean water. Currently, we are using purified water drawn from a river, which makes it difficult to consistently secure the necessary amount. Clean water is needed in many situations in the maternity ward, such as bathing newborns, washing beds, and washing clothes and bedding. Therefore, the development of a water supply system is desired, and we have begun considering it as a candidate for our next social development support project.

Ugandan coffee is characterized by its soft, bright acidity, fruity sweetness, and rich body. Please enjoy this safe and delicious coffee grown using environmentally friendly organic farming methods that do not use chemical fertilizers or pesticides. Ugandan iced coffee is available at Moriba Coffee and Cafe Milano.