What makes The Coffee Lodge at Clarke Farm, Uganda worth the journey?

Experience regenerative farming on a 1,500-acre estate growing coffee, bamboo, and macadamia. Walk forest trails, tour the nursery, roast and cup coffee in the lab, and take home fresh samples from a hilltop lodge with stunning views.

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Uganda, Africa

The Coffee Lodge at Clarke Farm

Breathe in the fresh Ugandan air, sip fresh-roasted coffee, and savour the tranquility at The Coffee Lodge, nestled amidst a 1,500-acre farm with hiking trails and stunning views

Set on a hilltop on our 1,500-acre farm, The Coffee Lodge lets you experience regenerative farming for sustainable coffee, bamboo, macadamia and fruit trees. Take the forest and river trails, sit on a rock and listen to the birds, visit the nursery to learn how to propagate and take a factory tour of coffee processing. Try roasting and cupping coffee in our lab and take home samples of fresh coffee or macadamia. Or simply sit on the veranda of the coffee lodge to soak in the amazing tranquillity and views.

The Coffee Lodge on Clarke Farm is set in a spectacular location on a hill at the very centre of the farm with sweeping views of 1,500 acres of farmland. The farm has a variety of crops including coffee, maize, Irish potatoes, bamboo, eucalyptus, fruit trees (oranges and mangoes), macadamia and vanilla. The Lodge is surrounded by a huge rock garden with seven hundred stepping stones to the base of the hill, and many walks and resting places throughout the garden. The farm itself has forest trails through the natural forest, the eucalyptus plantation, river walks, bouldering, mountain biking and jogging trails.

Some people may like to sit on the veranda and take in the view, others may wish to explore the trails, while others may take the guided tour for the coffee experience or learn how to cup the roasted coffee in our coffee lab. Or simply sit on ‘The Rock’ to enjoy the abundant birdlife, trees and flowers.

Wildlife such as colobus monkeys, vervet monkeys, baboons and exotic birds can be found on the trail through the natural forest. Some of the trees are hundreds of years old.

The food is fresh and locally produced including fresh coffee from the farm, matoke (plantain), groundnut sauce, potatoes, fresh eggs and vegetables from the farm. Mango and orange juice are also produced on the farm when they are in season. Honey, macadamia nuts and coffee can be taken home from the farm shop.

Clarke Farm and the Coffee Lodge is located conveniently on the route between Murchison Falls and Fort Portal about a two-hour drive from Kibale Forest, where chimp tracking takes place. This makes it a great stopover with a difference.

SUPPORTING SMALL FARMERS IN THE RWENZORI FOOTHILLS

Clarke Farm supports our growers through agronomy training and purchasing their coffee at higher prices

ENJOY THE LARGEST ROCK GARDEN IN UGANDA

The coffee lodge is set in a garden with resting places among a profusion of flowers and plants

SOAK IN THE VIEW

As you sip your coffee on the veranda of the Coffee Lodge you can enjoy vast views of the farm

TRAINING STUDENTS
TO PROPAGATE COFFEE PLANTS

Groups of students and small farmers visit the farm to learn agricultural practices such as propagation of coffee seedlings

Your Hosts - The Clarke family

Dr. Ian Clarke and his family first came to Uganda in 1988 during the peak of the AIDS epidemic and founded Kiwoko Hospital, a charitable hospital in Luweero. Later, they founded the International Medical Centre, a private clinic that grew into International Hospital, the largest private hospital in Kampala. They became Ugandan citizens and over the past 25 years have developed various businesses including clinics, health insurance, a university, and a school.

Dr. Clarke believes that life is in seasons and for his latest season he has turned to coffee farming. Although Dr. Clarke and his family have focused on healthcare and education in most of their endeavors, the vast majority of Uganda’s population live in rural areas where they depend on agriculture, particularly coffee, for a livelihood. Therefore, having an impact on coffee farming can have a huge positive knock-on effect for many Ugandans.

Our insights..

Transparency is essential if we are all going to grow and improve together and this is why we have dedicated this section to sharing what we love about each place and its hosts. We work with each of our hosts to improve their guest experiences, sustainability practices and local impact, this is where you can learn more about that along with what still needs to be improved, the measures being taken to ensure our hosts continue to move forward and every now and then we’ll come back to update you on their progress.

Lars von der Wettern

Visited the property in November 2023

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Wildlife such as colobus monkeys, vervet monkeys, baboons and exotic birds can be found on the trail through the natural forest. Some of the trees are hundreds of years old.

SUPPORTING SMALL FARMERS IN THE RWENZORI FOOTHILLS

Clarke Farm supports our growers through agronomy training and purchasing their coffee at higher prices

ENJOY THE LARGEST ROCK GARDEN IN UGANDA

The coffee lodge is set in a garden with resting places among a profusion of flowers and plants

SOAK IN THE VIEW

As you sip your coffee on the veranda of the Coffee Lodge you can enjoy vast views of the farm

TRAINING STUDENTS TO PROPAGATE COFFEE PLANTS

Groups of students and small farmers visit the farm to learn agricultural practices such as propagation of coffee seedlings

Your Hosts - The Clarke family

Our insights..

–

Lars von der Wettern

Visited the property in November 2023

Community & Sustainability Commitment

Here are some key sustainability & community practices that these hosts are committed to. Please use the key below the icons for reference. You might see that some measurements are not currently in place and that’s okay, we choose to support our hosts on their imperfect road towards a better world and we understand that that takes time.

Sustainability Practices

Community Commitments

Not in Place

Eco Certifications & Efforts

Just as we admire each of our hosts for their singularity, we appreciate that their sustainability journeys are also unique. Because of this, we do not require our hosts to have an eco certification or two under their belt, we simply guide them on improving their sustainable business practices one imperfect – but positive – step at a time. If a host has eco certifications they will be shown below, if not, then know we are working towards this together.

Rain Forest Alliance Certification

The Rainforest Alliance seal promotes collective action for people and nature. It amplifies and reinforces the beneficial impacts of responsible choices, from farms and forests all the way to the supermarket check-out.

Rain Forest Alliance Certification

Chickens for sustainable regenerative farming

On the farm we currently have 4,000 laying hens, and the main reason we keep them is because we like their contribution to regenerative farming:
We grow maize which we process through our own maize mill into maize flour, which we use to feed our workers (sometimes we can have 500 workers on the farm and we feed them all).
We then use the maize bran which is a residue to feed the chickens which produce eggs that are then sold at the local market

The chickens produce manure which is either spread on the land when it is fallow to reduce our use of chemical fertiliser, or is mixed with charcoal and water to make biochar which is mixed with other organic residues to make compost – which is used to make the soil more fertile for planting coffee. Biochar is also one of the best ways for carbon sequestration.

Our Efforts

Although the farm is not organic, we seek to minimise the use of herbicides and artificial fertiliser by developing our own compost using the byproducts from coffee processing plus vegetative waste from the rest of the farm with the addition of biochar. We also practice agroforestry with a high number of indigenous shade trees planted among the coffee. The ecosystem along the rivers has been preserved with additional trees and bamboo planted in these areas.

Care is also taken in the planting of the coffee of other crops to minimise erosion of soils. The natural forest which borders our farm has been protected from encroachers and additional trees planted on the boundary of the forest.

The aim of the farm is to practice sustainable agriculture and to allow visitors, both local and international, to appreciate the beauty and abundance of the Ugandan environment. Although there are other crops on the farm the emphasis is on coffee since this is the main cash crop for Ugandan farmers.

NGOs & Local Impact Projects Supported

Each of our hosts strive to have a positive impact on their local communities. Some of our hosts already have established connections with local partners to enrich the lives and wellbeing of their communities, others are in the process of creating these long term relationships. If a host has local NGO connections they will be shown below, if not, then know we are working towards this together.

Our Efforts

The farm acts as a hub farm and training centre for small farmers and students and the Outgrowers scheme not only provides training for farmers but acts as an off taker for their coffee. When farmers carry out good practice in the care and harvesting of their coffee they produce higher quality crop for which we can obtain a premium, which is passed on to the farmer thus improving their income.

Additionally, during the harvest Clarke Farm & Coffee estate employs over 800 local residents from the surrounding villages.

The Four Cs

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Conservation

72%

Highlights:

Community

43%