Donation - Unconditional Basic Income - Uganda

An unconditional basic income is, as the name suggests, an income that is not tied to anything. In other words, you don’t have to work to receive it, nor do you have to, as in the case of unemployment benefits, go to the employment office (Adem), register, or meet certain conditions. 

Unconditional means you simply receive money every month.

The first thoughts that come to many people's minds are:

1. You should work for your money.
2. This makes people lazy.
3. It will discourage people from wanting to build something of their own.

However, we forget—in our wealthier countries (intentionally?)—that our system already inherently includes a form of basic income. We all have health insurance which provides us with health security; pensions support us financially when we retire; unemployment benefits help us if we lose our job; and every child has access to education!

We didn’t have to fight for these benefits (at least not most of us alive today) and were simply born into this system, enjoying these advantages from the start.

Unfortunately, this is not the case for many people in poorer countries. They have to struggle every day just to cover their basic needs. 

This is often because their governments (intentionally or unintentionally) fail to ensure these basic needs are met at an affordable price.

Sadly, this is also true for coffee producers. This Side Up (my coffee importer) pays coffee producers more money for better quality, but often coffee producers are in survival mode and cannot afford to work on improving the quality of their coffee. How could they? When every day they have to worry about putting food on the table, sending their kids to school, and figuring out what to do when a family member gets sick?

But what if...?

What would happen if these coffee producers were given some breathing room, for example, by providing them with a basic income for a limited time? Not endless money, just enough to cover their basic needs.

This would give producers time to think about their future. Do they even want to continue as coffee producers? Some might not, but others might want it even more! They would look for ways to learn more about coffee cultivation, invest money and knowledge into their farms, and produce better coffee, which would lead to higher income.

That is the goal of the unconditional basic income project: giving producers the opportunity to become entrepreneurs in agriculture—if that is what they want!

Together, we are investing in improving the well-being of coffee farmers, which in turn leads to better coffee quality. This creates an upward spiral:

Better quality = Better prices for farmers = Money to invest in even better coffee quality = Even better prices for farmers

Not A Test Balloon, But A Scientifically Proven Approach

The idea of an unconditional basic income often faces heavy criticism. The argument is always the same: Giving money to poor people doesn’t work; it makes them lazy and dependent on that money. And yes, this can be true for a few people, but the majority of evidence suggests that a basic income changes lives for the better. In our case, farmers can use this opportunity to focus on their professionalism—hire more people, produce better quality. It allows them to finally become the architects of their own lives!

Together with Eight, an NGO from Belgium and my coffee importer This Side Up from the Netherlands, the goal is to guarantee a basic income for all the coffee farmers working with Zombo for two years.

An adult will receive €16 per month, and a child will receive €8 per month (bezuelt un dem Kand seng Mamm). Dat Ganzt wéi gesot wärend engem Zäitraum vun 2 Joer. Dat Geld geet DIREKT u si, iwwer hier mobil Bezuelapp déi si hunn.

For the remainder of December, I'm also adding a donation of 2€ for every kg sold! :) 

All donations will be transferred 100% to Eight, and not a cent will be lost! Of course, I will publish the proof to ensure you can verify that I’ve done this.

Personally, I find this project brilliant, and I am generally in favor of an unconditional basic income for everyone, even here in our country.

Thank you very much for your support in advance! :) 

Patrice

Wanns du nach méi iwwer de Projet wësse wëlls kanns du hei den Artikel vun This Side Up liesen (englesch) an hei d’Websäit vun Eight duerchstöberen! 🙂