Regenerative agriculture
Equitable entrepreneurship
Personal coaching
for lasting impact.
for lasting impact.
700 million people live in extreme poverty – most are farmers.
Our Approach: The Kula Fellowship
A 12-month poverty graduation model designed to empower and equip coffee farming families to move out of extreme poverty, defined by the World Bank as living on less than $2.15 PPP per person per day.
Program Timeline
Coffee Agronomy: Training, Inputs & Farm Visits
Fellowship Commencement & Group Formation
July
Household Entrepreneurship: Training & Coaching
aug
sep
oct
nov
dec
jan
Household Entrepreneurship: Financing, Launching & Development
feb
mar
apr
may
june
Fellowship Graduation
Fellow Targeting & Selection
May
June
Program Pillars
Kula’s Program Pillars serve as the lens and values through which we engage in our work. These pillars guide not just what we do but how we do it; where emphasis is placed in training, what kinds of farm materials and methodologies are provided, what kinds of businesses are supported, and how we make decisions. While keeping our focus on organizational purpose and ends, these pillars ensure that the means are never sacrificed.
Equitable
Entrepreneurship
Women’s
Empowerment
Regenerative
Impact
Environmental
Sustainability
Evidence-Based
Actions
Locally-Led
Solutions
Why coffee farmers?
Consistently one of the top export cash crops in many low-income countries, coffee is growth throughout East Africa and has the potential to be uniquely impactful in the lives of farmers. While involving a higher barrier of entry than other crops, coffee is a long term investment that, when cultivated well, can provide a greater return per land size than most others.
Where we work
Rwanda, East Africa
Land of a thousand hills. A small but mighty country in the heart of Africa.
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Overcoming the horrific 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi, Rwanda has developed and strengthened in numerous ways, building strong tourism and hospitality industries, consistent agricultural exports, and a bourgeoning tech scene. Nonetheless, there is still much to be done. 52% of the population lives in poverty, including the majority of its 450,000 coffee farmers. Women face unique disadvantages in the coffee sector, and are often excluded from decision-making, access to finance, and leadership opportunities. Our Fellowship Program aims to change that, bringing new opportunities to the whole family.
As we continue expanding our reach to impact 25,000 individuals by 2028, we will be partnering with Rwanda's Ministry of Agriculture and National Agriculture Export Board to determine the Districts and Sectors to next bring our Fellowship Program to.
Our Impact
With each Fellowship Cohort, we continue to see higher levels of impact year-over-year with program results maintaining steady and sustained growth after graduation due to the strengthening of our methodology and team, greater clarity on the most effective strategies and inputs, and increased investment into program components responsible for the highest levels of impact.
Within 1 year after graduation, Kula Fellows experience on average:
244%
increase in income
395%
increase in savings
116%
Increase in Coffee Harvest
Our Most Recent Annual Report
Stories from our Fellows
Beyond these numbers are real people with real, complex, and beautiful stories – stories of resilience, of progress, and of hope.
Donatille
The Donatille we met in 2018 is not the Donatille we know now.
By implementing what she learned and utilizing the inputs provided in her coffee farm, Donatille increased her coffee harvest by 200% after graduating from the Fellowship. But she didn't stop there – by advancing her thriving flour-milling business, she generated enough income to pay back all of her debts, purchase livestock, send her granddaughter to school, and even invest in her son's moto taxi business.
Donatille is a testament to the power and possibility of entrepreneurship.
Join Us
Kula is an impact-driven organization. All of our time, energy, and resources support our mission: to eradicate poverty through the development of entrepreneurs in Rwanda's coffee communities. Donate today and partner with us in this life-changing work.