Mountain Harvest
Location
Uganda
Sector
Agriculture
Type of investment
Risk capital
Project stage
Test and transition
Length of investment
2026-2027
Website
Investment overview
Mountain Harvest is a Ugandan social enterprise that processes and exports specialty coffee to global markets. By combining extensive farmer services with direct market access, Mountain Harvest enables smallholder farmers to bypass traditional middlemen and secure significant price premiums for their harvests.
The development challenge
In Uganda, coffee serves as the primary economic driver for rural communities, yet 40% of the population still lives below the international poverty line.
Smallholder farmers face chronically low yields due to unproductive trees, a lack of regenerative agricultural practices, and climate instability.
By selling unprocessed coffee beans to meet immediate cash needs, these farmers are forfeiting the 10%-30% speciality market premiums that could transform their livelihoods.
The innovation
Mountain Harvest is transforming the coffee value chain by integrating regenerative agriculture, income-diversification, and premium pricing. Partnering with approximately 2,400 smallholder farmers, the company produces high-quality, traceable, and award-winning certified green coffee.
Unlike traditional commodity traders, Mountain Harvest invests deeply in farmer training, traceability systems and regenerative agriculture practices. This holistic approach builds climate resilience, empowers women growers, and creates sustainable jobs, securing a more prosperous future for local communities.
Our investment
GIF has provided a $500,000 loan to support Mountain Harvest’s operations and scale its impact. This capital will be used to finance the procurement of Arabica coffee cherries and parchment from smallholder farmers, providing them with reliable, immediate income.
Our investment is designed to increase the incomes local farmers, catalyse additional funding into the sector, and support the company’s transition toward higher-margin central processing.
Mountain Harvest in numbers
smallholder farmers accessing premium pricing
of smallholder farmers reached are women
premium prices secured for smallholder farmers