Welcome to the 1 – Acre Project, a coffee farm entrepreneurial venture.
- Accredited in the State of Maryland, United States as Diaspora Coffee Acre, also known as the 1-Acre Project; is an entrepreneurial coffee farm venture infrastructure, dedicated to the diaspora community as a retirement engagement scheme.
- Characterized by the Diaspora Farmers’ Cooperative Union (DFCU), with own leadership as supreme organ, to take audit of own operational affairs under the framework, guidance and entrepreneurial of the 1 – Acre Project.
Introduction:
The coffee farm venture portfolio is a subsidiary to the Africa Coffee Bureau (ACB), the parent company. The scheme implementation is based on a minimum of an acre of land as the benchmark mode for a diaspora constituent member to openup a 1 – Acre coffee farm venture. The 1 – Acre Project is conceptualized in the ACB MOT-model (https://africacoffeebureau.us/mot-ive-model/), constructed in the niche sustainability development element.
Objectives :
- Hasten diaspora engagements into global coffee affairs through leveraging the 1 – Acre Project and attaining shareholding in the coffee value chain ventures and innovations, aimed at social economic prosperity, retirement scheme choice, and for environmental sustainability.
- Groom a diaspora avenue into international coffee leadership roles including; impact decision making, policy implementation, trade negotiations and niche marketing.
Background and Rationale underlying the 1-Acre Project:
In unpublished reports, it’s mentioned that substantial amounts of money to the tune of US$1.8 billion to have been robbed of the diaspora community of Ugandan origin in an unspecified period of time in unverifiable trade and business dealings.
The ruin is not just limited to the Ugandan diaspora, rather a disenfranchisement to the constituency of the diaspora anywhere although, with varying magnitudes. Despite, the need for the diaspora to invest back in the home countries, continues and sometimes a justifiable measure to strengthen connections and linkages with family and the ancestry.
Coffee farm entrepreneurial venture is one of such many opportunities; the 1-Acre Project, hawks and hypothesizes to bench as immediate launch pad for the diaspora Homecoming. The 1-Acre Project infrastructural undertaking underscores the need for handling and support services for the diaspora at first-time entry into the coffee farm ventures, and really acting on their behalf in fully establishing the coffee estates as business retirement scheme. The 1-Acre Project is here to invigorate the diaspora vigor and to leverage the community for investment into coffee farming.
The success of the 1-Acre Project venture urges for guarantees; ample and adequate pro-diaspora legislation and safeguards. The 1-Acre Project works to streamline freedom on coffee farming and logistics handling, farm mapping, legal and ethical related shortfalls, for take-off and sustainable investments.
Economic Significance:
75 countries represent 94% of global coffee production and 64% of world consumption (International Coffee Organization: Coffee Development Report 2022 – 2023).
- 11 million hectares estimated as world’s farmland dedicated to coffee cultivation (National Coffee Association, 2011).
- The world coffee production share is presently estimated at 95.7 million and 73.5 million 60-kg bags of Arabica and Robusta respectively, (USDA-FAS Report June 2024: Coffee World Markets and Trade).
In Africa, the agricultural sector remains significant, accounting for 23 per cent
of the continent’s GDP with food and agricultural exports averaging $35Bn – $40Bn annually (https://www.cabi.org/news-article/building-the-post-covid-19-resilience-for-africas-cofeeosector/), coffee inclusive. In regional East Africa, coffee is the predominant source of income for most smallholder farmers (Robusta Quality Markers in Africa: ICRAF-USDA/ARS Annual Report 2006). Majority of smallholder farms however, are women led, ranging from 150 – 400 coffee trees and, depend on it for social security; implying they harvest the coffee, store it and, only sell to obtain food, medical care and child education (https://africacoffeebureau.us/founder/).
Global coffee boom scenario :
- For Kenya, in the harvest year 2021, coffee fetched $229M from just 36,163MT (586,050 60kg bags) of Arabica grades, (Kenya Bureau of Statistics Report, 2021).
- In the coffee year 2023/2024, Uganda put together 8 million 60kg bags of green bean, generating it US$1.25Bn (UCDA Report July 2024), in foreign exchange earnings.
- For United States, in the fiscal year 2022 alone, coffee contributed to her GDP an estimated $343.2Bn, with consumers spending nearly $110Bn on just the beverages (https://www.ncausa.org/Research-Trends/Economic-Impact), besides other forms of products.
- In the Pacific – Hawai’i , the total coffee production volumes, estimated at 19210 MT of green, generated US$48.217M, (State of Hawaii Report June 2024: Coffee Acreage, Yield, Production, Price and Value).
- The US retail is so lucrative and enfranchised, estimated at $88Bn; predominantly segmented into $48Bn, 26Bn and $14Bn, Roasting, Coffeehouse retail and At-home brewing (SCA report 2018: US Coffee Market Overview), respectively. The American coffee market structure is just growing bigger and bigger and the best-bet benchmark trade strategy for the future coffee production volumes envisioned from the 1- Acre Project.
The Diaspora and Global Influence:
The diaspora is a recognized key stakeholder not only in bilateral and global affairs but, also in migration development nexus (International Organization for Migration Report, 2013), global coffee value chain development inclusive. For Africa, it’s diaspora is scattered all over the world and, available statistics points to 35 million by 2017 (African Union, 2019). Diaspora contribution to their home countries is enormous and, most noted for remittances (African Union, 2019). In Uganda alone, diaspora remitted US$1.4Bn and US$1.1Bn in 2019 and 2020, respectively (IFAD Press Release: IFAD/26/2021).
It’s notable, for business networks, diaspora is credited for use of their unique insights (https://www.usaid.gov/fact-sheet/infographic-diasporas-seeding-development), to attract investments and establish entrepreneurial ventures into their home country communities.
The background for the 1 – Acre Project proposed by the Africa Coffee Bureau (ACB) in Washington, DC; to leverage the diaspora community in investing in the business, is justifiable, and their participation at the international coffee stage, is rational and indispensable.
Commodity Demand:
Demand for coffee continues to grow with increases in innovation and consumption per capita. “Starbucks plan to open a coffee shop in China every 9hrs to reach 9000 locations across the country by 2025” according to Financial Times (https://www.ft.com/content/92b2faa0-f4c3-43fd-bbb3-46c60db5d51a), should elicit the “grow more coffee – drink more coffee campaign”.
In the United States, the roasting activities alone are at US$48Bn, coffeehouses retail accounting for $26.3Bn and, At-home brewing skewed to $14Bn (SCA report 2018: US Coffee Market Overview). And, with such market trend portfolios in the industrial consumer world like the United States, it gives a clue of the boom and lucrative future of the coffee commodity and a solid foundation for the 1 – Acre Project (Diaspora Coffee Acre) proposal for investment.
1 – Acre Project Model:
- DCA is a coffee farm entrepreneurial venture for profit making by the investor (diaspora) and the handling and services provider (Diaspora Coffee Acre on behalf of Africa Coffee Bureau LLC) overseen under the ACB – Entrepreneurship Bureau.
- Innovation of farm ventures, leveraging diaspora vigor to enter agricultural and estate establishments of coffee business back at home in origin nations.
- The core purpose of 1 – Acre Project:
- For long-term profit making by the investor (diaspora member) and a retirement scheme, coffee being perennial in nature, that is even present after 100 years.
- A translational social appreciation and connections derivative for ancestry and family ties.
- Essential for environmental remediation.
- 1 – Acre Project Implementation:
The investor places an order and enters into a contract with DCA/ACB for handling and support services leading to open-up of the acre coffee plot-farm and maintenance that entails a series of technical events according to a plan of choice. - Leadership:
- 1 – Acre Project technical implementation is guided by standard operating procedures under the framework of the DCA.
- Membership is constitutively profiled under the Diaspora Farmers Cooperative Union (DFCU).
- DFCU elects it’s leadership, also known as the Board of Directors under the framework of DCA from which it derives it’s singular authority to audit activities pertaining to the 1 – Acre Project implementation, and developmental lobbying purposes.
- 1 – Acre Project baseline is one acre of coffee, and that is the minimum business benchmark of DCA implementation.
- The assumption is, the diaspora cooperative member should be given opportunity to understand the minimum undertakings (budgets, routine maintenance and activity planning), required in full scope operationalization of an acre of the farm venture. That is hoped to give the investor an idea of the budgets required for acreage enhancement.
- 1 – Acre Project basic plan on the minimum; undertakes full care from open-up of the farmland, planting the one coffee acre to adequate firm – establishment of 3 months, inclusive of gap filling and sucker training before handing over to the 1 – Acre Project caretaker.
- 1 – Acre Project is enrolled in Uganda and an expansion plan to regional East Africa nations
Our Handling and Services:
- Highly specialized land geo-mapping and technical appraisals (soil health assessment and assorted physicals).
- Land open-up.
- 1 – Acre Project establishment and implementation (plantings and fertilizer regimes).
- Routine maintenance and assorted services
Contacts:
- For our packages and plan offerings, e-mail us: info@africacoffeebureau.us
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