Fairtrade mourns the deaths of coffee farmers in Uganda

Gumutindo is one of the oldest Fairtrade coffee co-operatives. Based in Mount Elgon, in the Mbale district of south-east Uganda, one of their founder members Lovis Masiga and his family were tragically killed last week in a mud slide. Because of large scale deforestation in the area, mud slides during the raining season are becoming increasingly frequent and resulting in loss of life.

Here Willington Wameyeye, Managing Director of Gumutindo writes this moving tribute to his friend Lovis Masiga.

“Masiga” means “tears” in the language of the people who live on the western slopes of Mt Elgon. There were lots of them on Tuesday 30th August 2011 in the Mt. Elgon village of Sisiyi, approximately 1,500 m above sea level.
 
A family of nine members was buried alive by a massive landslide, following a heavy down pour in the night of Sunday 28th August 2011. Thousands of tons of mud, water, and rock slid off the side of the mountain, destroying everything in its path as it hurtled down the mountainside.

Mr. Lovis Masiga together with his 8 family members was killed by the slide. His son and all the children, a daughter who had come to visit with her children were among the dead.  His wife, Zeeta survived because she was away from home, visiting her relatives in a nearby village.
 
Mr. Masiga was one of the founding farmers/members of Gumutindo. This is a man I have worked with since 1991. He was a role model in many respects but first as a person I could rely on. I have always advised my colleagues in Gumutindo to look for Masiga for help in case they encountered problems on their way to or down from Buginayanya. Considering that the road can deteriorate very quickly during rainy days, that piece of advice was a worthwhile one. And Masiga never disappointed me. He was always available and ready to help without complaining. 
 
He was a very good farmer. One of our very best farmers of Gumutindo. A picture of his appears in the calendars of Trade Aid. Now the coffee, his home and himself are no more. You cannot see Mr. Masiga’s house, it is buried 10 meters under. What you can see are the remains of houses, coffee trees and other bigger trees that were carried off from above the cliff. Underneath this mound, cows, goats and everything else of the late Mr. Masiga’s is buried there.

 
Death occurs very so often these days in our part of the world. I attended the funeral of my friend, Lodovico Masiga. There were nine dead bodies laid in the church, nine bodies from the same family. A lot of tears flowed that day.
 
The road to Buginyanya is closed, as you can see in the photos. I do not know how long it will take to open it. When it opens, we shall of course continue going to Buginyanya and Nasufwa but we shall not have the luxury of meeting and talking to our friend, Lovis. His road permanently closed on the night of 28th August 2011.
 
Willington Wamayeye

Fairtrade has been working with Gumutindo to implement a tree planting programme with farmers to help reduce soil erosion and the risk of mudslides, one of many threats facing farmers in the region.

The thoughts of everyone at the Fairtrade Foundation are with the workers of Gumutindo in the wake of this terrible tragedy.