Clean water is scarce in Uganda’s coffee-growing regions and 20 million Ugandans are without safe clean water.  

This is our video about how we learned to better restore dignity and justice to our coffee growers, and their communities.

Read about the project here: Evolution of Change

By working together, we can support the health and well-being of each farmer and their families with a simple investment in a clean water filter.

When you buy Delicious Peace Coffee, you support health and happiness for future generations.

This is a call to action for all coffee companies to lift up the dignity of farmers and support health and happiness for future generations.  

Our clean water project in Uganda has given rise to a whole new perspective, one that needs to be shared. The project was inspired from our work with the Namanyoni Cooperative. It is a study in what moves Thanksgiving Coffee Company to be better at what we do, and it is about an evolving theory of change.

The original Interfaith co-operative of Ugandan coffee farmers gathered together with a mission to build harmonious relationships and economic development in a complicated country. When Thanksgiving Coffee became involved, our premise was to improve the standard of living. We began by paying the farmers a higher price for their coffee. We empowered the farmers to improve the quality of their coffees, their farming practices, and supported them to certify their green coffee and this commanded higher prices for their product.

As the relationship grew we went through many twists and turns and in 2020 it became clear that paying a higher price for the green coffee was not enough. What we learned is that the farmers spend up to 60% of their income on healthcare costs. It became clear that the real need is to improve the health of the farmers, and for Uganda this meant clean, safe water.

Not having access to safe water is the number 2 killer of children under five worldwide and over 20 Million people in Uganda are without safe water. This takes a huge toll on families and especially the water barrers – the women who need to hunt and source out available water.

Uganda has 20 Million people without safe water.

We set a new goal to provide clean water for every family of the Namanyoni Coop. To accomplish this we partnered with Spouts of Water who creates sustainable clean water filters out of local materials and hires local employees.

These simple filters allow the farmers and their families to drink and cook water safely without boiling it first.

The Benefits of the Clean Water Filters

• 99.9% Reduction of water-born illnesses, such as typhoid, cholera, dysentery, and diarrhea
• Increase in life expectancy
• Decrease in infant mortality
• Lower energy costs due to eliminating the need to boil water for sanitation
• Reduction of medical, pharmacy, and burial costs
• Increase disposable income by up to 60%
• Women and girls spend less time hunting for, gathering, carrying, and transporting wood back to their homes (which is also a financial benefit)
• Raised family and community Happiness quotient

In 2021 we were able to meet our goal through the rebates generated by the sale of each Delicious Peace coffee package.

Our work with the Namanyoni Cooperative in Uganda is helping us develop a replicable model that we can share. When the health of our farmers and impoverished peoples of the world improves, we see a ripple effect and the benefits reach far and wide.

Learn More About the Project:

Delicious Peace Moves Forward: Development Origins

A Trip to Africa: Intro - I'm going to Africa

Delicious Peace Coffee : A New Story

Clean Water For All : Helping Uganda

Impact Report: Giving Back

Uganda: Geography Now (Fun one to share with kids)

Impact is measured in many ways, both direct and indirect, seen and unseen. Over the course of Thanksgiving's 50 years, the company’s impact has spanned across both the coffee growing regions of the world, and the local community of Mendocino County. Now in these years of the post Covidian era, many new challenges have arisen. Whether it is the loss of loved ones, big changes to the supply chain, personnel shifts, or the flux of coffee plants in our changing climate, yet still our company remains constant.

This 2021 report shares how Thanksgiving Coffee continues to pull together and provide the best coffee in the world, while supporting health and happiness for our community. This is the ethos of Thanksgiving’s origins. This small coastal community of Mendocino posts signs of "How to Build Community" on walls of stores and gathering places, a reminder to all citizens and tourists alike, the importance of staying truly connected. The most commonly posted sticker that travels upon the bumpers of local cars reads "Think Global, Act Local".

Thanksgiving takes its lead from the people who shop in the local grocery stores and care about where and how their coffee is grown. The people who share how their family is fairing, who’s children have grown and who is now gone, the people who care about farmers and the global food system. The news from neighbors who come by for a great cup of coffee, and the organizations who invite us to support their efforts to do good in the world. This is who Thanksgiving Coffee Company is, and this is our impact, as part of a global community imagining the best possible future there can be, for all beings, and for the whole living planet of Earth.