ABOUT THIS COFFEE:
Norman Mukuru began his career as an agronomist in his home region of Kasese, near Uganda’s western border, before further training as an engineer pulled him deeper into coffee. He was recruited by Great Lakes Coffee, then one of Uganda’s largest coffee exporters, first to build collection and processing systems in western Uganda and later to replicate that work on Mt. Elgon in the east. After Great Lakes collapsed, Norman struck out on his own, carrying forward both the operational discipline and regional network he had helped build.
What began as a toll-drying facility outside Mbale evolved into The Coffee Yard: a centralized hub for cherry collection and careful, value-added processing at scale. Security concerns, the need for greater standardization, and the practical advantages of faster payment eventually pushed the model away from rented drying space and toward direct cherry purchasing. Today Norman runs the operation through a network of lead farmers and community collectors, backed by agronomists, QC staff, and a seasonally expanding workforce.
Set about half an hour up Mt. Elgon from Mbale, The Coffee Yard now includes raised beds, patios, fermentation tanks, and a Penagos pulper, with capacity to produce up to four containers of washed coffee in a season. Processing emphasizes precision, but the facility is as much a workplace as it is a community, with housing, shared meals, and the family atmosphere Norman has built around the work. His independence, organizational rigor, and appetite for challenge make The Coffee Yards a uniquely self-directed force on Mt. Elgon.
