Having a troubled past plagued by some of the gravest of human tragedies of recent times, Uganda has been more commonly known for its history of human rights abuses, political repression, ethnic persecution and an AIDS epidemic which affected 30% of the population during its peak in the 1990s. A nation of great natural beauty and abundant resources, Uganda was once called "the pearl of Africa" by Winston Churchill, but was sadly mired in civil war and economic catastrophe.

Agriculture forms the backbone of Uganda's economy with small family owned landholdings of less than 1 hectare accounting for over 93% of an estimated 500,000 farms. Traditionally, coffee cultivation has always been a major preoccupation and one of the few sources of income available to rural families. Landholdings are passed on from one generation to the next with farms producing both food for consumption and traditional cash crops. Endowed with a varied climate, ample fertile land and regular rainfall, Uganda has one of the best environments for agricultural and coffee production in sub-Saharan Africa.

Practicing traditional farming methods, Uganda's farmers plant their coffee trees in between food crops, such as banana trees, for shade. During harvest time families get together and selectively hand pick ripe cherries from the trees, which are then laid out to dry on specially made papyrus mats under the hot equatorial sun. This adherence to tried and tested techniques, on naturally fertile soils produce, arguably, some of the best coffees in Africa, if not the world.