Rwandan Women's Cooperative Coffee

The Cooperative Coffee Rusiga Sector who grow this coffee is a collection of small farms owned entirely by women. In contrast to historical roles within the coffee industry, the women of the cooperative took over the ownership of their lands and are now expert coffee farmers thanks to their involvement with the Kinini Project.

The Kinini Project work with displaced women and young people in the rural Rulindo District of Rwanda in partnership with “A New Beginning”. By developing education and health care, they have been able to help the community to become self-sufficient, using coffee farming to generate income and create economic stability in the area. The charity helps 633 farmers growing coffee across 252 hectares of land. Between the coffee plants themselves, the smallholders grow a varied range of crops including sweet potatoes, legumes and beans which provide them with an income all year round.

This is a washed coffee, though the process in this area of Africa differs from what we would usually recognise in other parts of the world. The result is a coffee with a syrupy body which ages particularly well.