Rwenzori Organic Coffee Farmers Mountain Harvest Cooperative Limited (ROCS) has been in existence since the year 2020. However, it was legally registered by the ministry of trade, industry and cooperatives in 2023.
ROCS is a member owned primary society whose membership so far is comprised of 754 coffee farmers who are double certified fair trade and Organic under Bukonzo Organic farmers cooperative Union (BOCU) whose shareholding is comprised of 13 primary societies.
ROCS holds a general assembly once a year. ROCS has a supervisory committee which supervises the Board of Directors who are elected during the general assembly. The Board meets quarterly to give guidance, evaluate performance and ensure the resources are safeguarded. The Primary society also has a committed management that run the day-to-day activities led by the Secretary Manager Mr. Kule Alfred who has considerable experience in the coffee Enterprise and other organic enterprises that ROCS intend to diversify too alongside coffee as her main enterprise.
To achieve operational efficiency, ROCS has Identified key result areas (KRAs) through which the operation plan will be implemented. The KRAs include;
Organisational infrastructural growth, Marketing/sales growth and product development.
In each KRA, goals have been set, strategies and action plans identified. These will form the basis of developing an implementation and Monitoring framework.
TDC Coaching program
The primary objective of the coaching in sustainability and decent work is to enable MSMEs and POs to integrate environmental sustainability and decent work challenges into the day-to-day management of their organisation. The coaching provides examples of good practices and tools for implementing or improving these aspects.
The coaching track in Sustainability and Decent Work consists of 4 to 5 coaching modules (or sessions) spread over 2 years, with each module typically lasting approximately one week.
Data Capturing
A data capturing exercise is a crucial preliminary step prior to the coaching, designed to systematically document and analyze the cooperative’s value chain, stakeholder profiles, and HREDD-related risks as a basis for effective intervention.
For ROCS, this process enabled the identification of key actors and their roles, highlighted critical human rights and environmental risks—including child labor, deforestation, and pollution—and laid the groundwork for implementing robust traceability systems and targeted policies.
As a result, ROCS developed enhanced data collection and reporting tools, established a cleaned farmer registry for EUDR compliance, and set up internal management controls, thus strengthening its readiness for certification and advancing sustainability goals.
First Session of Coaching
The first HREDD coaching session for ROCS resulted in significant progress towards integrating sustainability and decent work principles into the cooperative’s operations. Over five days, ROCS staff and leadership gained a clear understanding of human rights and environmental due diligence, identified priority intervention areas—including certification, gender, and financial inclusion—and collaboratively developed an action plan for future coaching.
The session also mapped the coffee value chain, highlighting key risks and setting the stage for improved compliance with Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance, and EU Deforestation Regulation requirements.
