Monthly Report Template for COMPETE Grantees

The program focuses on linking input suppliers with producers and producers with buyers, conducting trainings on quality management, wet mill management, RFID/cell phone use, and RITS system workshops for dry mill managers and cuppers. In December 2011, significant progress was made in linking buyers with producers. An important buyer from the UK signed a contract for one container of RITS coffee, and logistics continued to ensure the coffee was shipped in the New Year. Conversations with Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR) and Dillanos were still underway, and the Allegro container continued on course to the US as planned. The RITS program also conducted a one-day training on December 9th, educating 10 Kilicafe Northern users on how to use GoogleDocs to track expenditure at the washing station. This online system is expected to improve financial efficiency and transparency. The RITS program also made significant progress in tracking coffee production. In December, all ten RITS washing stations together tracked a total of nearly 20,000 Kg of cherry, bringing the grand total from the beginning of the 2011 harvest to 65,000 Kg of cherry tracked using RITS, amounting to 5 containers of green coffee. By the end of December, over $110,000 in farmer payments had been transacted since the beginning of the season. The program also received positive feedback from Christy Thorns, Allegro's coffee buyer, which will be forwarded to the USAID/COMPETE team alongside this report. However, the planned trip to Mbinga to complete the Monitoring and Evaluation data was delayed until January due to staff illness. The RITS program office closed over the Christmas period, but planning for the RITS extension will begin in January, and by February, five new groups will be chosen to participate in the RITS training program. The RITS program's focus on improving the efficiency and transparency of coffee production and trade has led to significant progress in linking buyers with producers and tracking coffee production. The program's online system for tracking expenditure is expected to improve financial efficiency and transparency, and the positive feedback from Allegro's coffee buyer is a testament to the program's success.