In Uganda, nearly all of the coffee is robusta—a hardier and higher-yielding variety than the more common arabica. However, robusta coffee sells for significantly less on the international market, leaving Ugandan coffee farmers particularly vulnerable to eras of low prices if they cannot compensate with increased productivity. The country’s sourcing channels are highly fragmented, with a large number of informal intermediaries. In 2019, farmers also had more limited access to extension services for on-the-ground agronomic support, meaning local farmers battled low farm yields, low prices, and low incomes. That year, JKCC General Supplies Limited was established to help farmers overcome these challenges. JKCC, also known as “Just Know Your Coffee Cup,” works through local cooperatives and other organized farmer groups to offer farmers timely payments, competitive prices, and technical support. In exchange for these investments in farmers’ success and long-term relationships, product quality and supplier reliability improve.
To offer these benefits to farmers, JKCC needs financing. In 2021, Root Capital and Rabo Foundation offered JKCC its first loans from CSAF members: working capital to finance on-time, premium purchases from farmers. Since then, CSAF financing has scaled alongside the business as JKCC has cumulatively accessed over $43M of operating capital from six different CSAF lenders. CSAF members have also accompanied the business with technical assistance: training agronomic extension teams, equipping business leadership with tools for succession planning and gender inclusion, and helping to implement digital systems to scale its warehouse management and sales.
As the business has grown, so too have its longer-term capital needs. In 2025, IDH Investment Management made an 8-year investment for $6.5M accompanied by an additional $6.5M from the Africa Agriculture and Trade Investment Fund. In addition to continued working capital support, this loan included significant flexibility for capital investment. JKCC has leveraged the initial funding to support the construction of dozens of coffee collection centers embedded in farmers’ communities, as well as to operationalize a central processing facility. With these investments, JKCC can take greater control over its supply chain, improving traceability and quality control to build trust with its own buyers and access premium prices.
This support has unlocked massive growth for JKCC. The business has grown to be one of the top exporters in Uganda, sourcing from more than ten thousand smallholders and increasing the business’s sales by 10x. JKCC’s growth has been rooted in support for local farmers, providing agronomic extension across its supplier base and establishing savings and credit cooperatives to finance farm inputs to boost productivity. As a result, some JKCC farmers have tripled yields, resulting in more income in farmers’ pockets. JKCC’s success to date shows how a combination of technical assistance and short- and long-term capital can drive meaningful outcomes for thousands of smallholders.