Ngororero Abahuzamugambi Women Cooperative FW

Ngororero Abahuzamugambi Women Cooperative is based in the Hindiro sector of Ngororero District. The cooperative exclusively comprises women coffee farmers united by a shared mission to promote women’s empowerment through education and skill-building initiatives. With a total of 40 members spanning various age groups, Ngororero Abahuzamugambi Cooperative strives to uplift its members by providing training on good agricultural practices, group dynamics, and leadership development. 

In 2019, Anna Illy, Illy Caffe’s Coffee Grower Ambassador, funded the cooperative and purchased a coffee plot to serve as a practice land, known as a farmer field school, and as a demonstration site for farmers from neighboring villages. Training and learning sessions on the plot are facilitated by agronomists from the Kahawatu Foundation, ensuring that members gain hands-on experience in modern coffee farming techniques. 

Additionally, members receive training on group dynamics and leadership, resulting in a strong organizational structure and the election of a five-member board committee to guide the cooperative’s future. These efforts demonstrate their resilience, collaboration, and commitment to excellence. 

40 women farmers cultivate coffee on a 0.9-hectare farm, where they grow Bourbon Mayaguez 139 and RAB C15. In collaboration with the Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB), the Kahawatu Foundation provided 2,550 coffee seedlings for planting. Members of the cooperative were also given mulching plants to grow at the periphery of their plantation to ensure the health of the coffee trees. 

Ripe cherry is handpicked by farmers during harvest and delivered to Ngororero washing station, where cherry go through a strict sorting process. First, washing station staff remove any lower quality cherry through flotation. Then, a specially trained staff visually inspects the remaining cherry for any visual defects. 

After sorting, cherry is pulped on a Pinhalese pulper that removes up to 80% of the mucilage before fermentation. Parchment is then fermented for 10 hours before being laid out to sun dry on raised beds. While drying, the coffee will be regularly sorted to remove imperfections and sifted to ensure even drying. 

In collaboration with the Kahawatu Foundation, Sucafina works to create positive social impact in the coffee supply chain. Kahawatu works directly with producers to offer programs that focus on agricultural training, improving social justice and economic empowerment. Some of their projects include: livestock solidarity chains, composting, distribution of seedlings, soil analysis, crop diversification, gender inclusion workshops, workshops for youth, village savings and loans groups, and health and nutrition workshops. 

Bourbon Mayaguez 139 is a vig­or­ous and high­ly pro­duc­tive tall vari­ety with very good cup qual­i­ty. It is named for its believed journey from Central America through the USDA germplasm collection in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. Bourbon was initially introduced to Puerto Rico from Central America and later added to the germplasm collection at Mulungu in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the 1930s. It was subsequently brought to Rwanda in the early 1950s, where it became an important coffee variety. When the Bourbon Mayaguez population was introduced to East Africa, certain mother trees were selected to develop new varieties. These selections led to the creation of Bourbon Mayaguez 71 and Bourbon Mayaguez 139, which are highly similar in agronomic performance. Today this variety is com­mon­ly found in Rwan­da and Burundi.

RAB C15 is a high yield­ing tall vari­ety resis­tant to rust and cof­fee berry dis­ease. The variety was developed and released by the Rwanda Agricultural Board (RAB) in 2015. It is a selection of Sln.6, a population developed by Indian coffee breeders at the Central Coffee Research Institute (CCRI) and distributed to Indian farmers in the 1970s. In 2010, this population was shared with four African countries: Rwanda, Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Uganda. Sln.6 originated from an interspecific cross between the C. arabica variety Kent and the C. canephora clone S.274, followed by a backcross to Kent.

In concert with our sustainability partner, Kahawatu Foundation, RWACOF invests heavily in yield improvements, farmer training, quality improvement projects, environmental sustainability and other ways to increase farmer livelihoods.

RWACOF’s Farmer Development Program in partnership with the London School of Economics (LSE) supports farmers with training in Good Agricultural Practices and access to loans, farm inputs and farm services. A new soil health initiative uses soil analysis data that RWACOF collected to identify farms where soil is too acidic. Lime, along with education about application, is distributed to these farmers to help improve soil quality. Additionally, seedling nurseries provide up to 4 million seedlings per year to help farmers renovate their rootstock.

RWACOF also has many projects that are designed to support farmers’ overall livelihoods. They focus on gender equality and support several women’s cooperatives by helping them access land, seedlings and reach a market for their coffees. They offer trainings on financial literacy and alternative income-generating activities.

On the environmental side, RWACOF has worked with partners to help install solar panels at 2 washing stations that are off the electrical grid. RWACOF’s dry mill already have a 50 kilowatt-per-hour solar panel set up on their roof. They’ve also mapped carbon emissions in their coffee supply chain and are starting projects to half their emissions per kg of coffee. Two ways they’re accomplishing this is by facilitating a transition from inorganic to organic fertilizer and further improve waste (water and pulp) management at the wet mills. They’re also working with Trade in Space to map deforestation in the supply chain so that they can begin to work with farmers to reduce deforestation and improve forested areas in the supply chain.

Above all, RWACOF's exceptional attention to detail during post-harvest activities ensures the best quality coffee possible. From the moment cherry enters the washing station until it is milled and bagged for export, RWACOF keeps stringent quality controls in place. They know, as we do, that high-quality coffee is crucial for delivering benefit all along the supply chain.