ABOUT US

What is MARA?

MARA Agribusiness (MARA) is a social enterprise that works with the youth to improve their livelihoods by providing training & availing markets along the coffee value chain through Aramah Coffee.

OUR VISION

We believe in a sustainable youth-driven agribusiness sector through entrepreneurship, innovation and collaboration.

OUR MISSION

A youth-focused and technology-driven social enterprise that supplies genuine, accessible and affordable agro-inputs to coffee farmers and trades in high-quality sustainable and traceable youth coffee to create 2500 direct decent jobs for rural youth in Uganda by 2025.

Our mission is to create 2500 direct decent jobs for rural youth in Uganda by 2025.

Founder of Aramah coffee. The best coffee in uganda — Boby Ogwang

*Founder & CEO*

HOW WE STARTED

In 2017, the team conducted a study about the sustainability of Uganda’s coffee industry. Through the study, we discovered that majority of Uganda’s coffee farmers are aging out, with an average age of 62 years. On the other hand, Uganda has the second youngest population in the world, with 55% of the population below 18 years and 70% below 30 years. On the contrary, there’s high rural-urban migration in search for quick-money making jobs, yet agriculture employs about 80% of the population, with coffee as the leading export earner.

This compelled us to establish MARA Agribusiness. So far, MARA Agribusiness has a total of 12 youth employees, 1050 youth coffee farming network and 5080 traditional coffee farming network across 05 Robusta and 03 Arabica coffee growing districts.

Through the youth network, MARA trains farmers in coffee agronomy and sells agro-inputs to smallholder farmers and aggregates; processes and markets the finished coffee product to coffee consumers. MARA Agribusiness therefore is a youth-led and technology-focused social enterprise that provide inputs and output services to coffee farmers.

The age range of our youth is 18 - 35 years.

Our guiding principles

Responsible farming involves safeguarding natural resources like soil, water, and biodiversity, while also managing social aspects respectfully. Our commitment is to sustain production indefinitely by acting responsibly in both natural and social environments, setting an example for other farming businesses.

Mara Agribusiness goes beyond boundaries, engaging in long-term projects like youth training programs that impart social and entrepreneurial skills, as well as supporting agricultural, sports, and cultural activities.

Our team embodies entrepreneurial thinking, integrity, professionalism, and mutual support.

MEET THE TEAM

Boby Ogwang

Founder & CEO
Bobby is an agriculturist with experience in team assembling and coordination, administration and management, and partnership and collaboration.
Joyce Thereza Akite

Coffee Manager
Joyce, a Petroleum Geoscientist by profession, is a UCDA-certified Barista. She has expertise in coffee analysis and quality control, coffee processing and aggregation and training in coffee brewing and coffee presentation.
Sandra Akidi

Finance Manager
Sandra, with experience in different accounting systems (Tally, QuickBooks) and financial reporting systems, she is responsible for the finance and accountability on this project.
Roggers Fungo

Arabica Field Coordinator
Roggers is a trained agroforestry officer, with expertise in coffee agronomy, agroforestry and apiculture and experience in community engagement spanning over 7 years. He coordinates the forest garden innovation.
Aloysious Bazanya

Robusta Field Coordinator
Aloysious is an experienced coffee advisory trainer. He is certified by DIT. He has over 10 years’ experience in training youth and setting up model and commercial coffee farms across Uganda. He coordinates the youth-to-youth innovation.
Philip Unegiu

Sales & Marketing Officer
Phillip has a background in Corperatives and Business Administration with over 10 years experience in the sales and marketing. He deals with product quality control, timely delivery of product and to ensure clients never have shortage of product.