About This Coffee
This cooperative was founded in 2009 by eight members and has now grown to include 294 members, with 134 of them being women. The cooperative owns a coffee plantation of about 2.12 Ha with more than 6,000 coffee trees on the same communal plantations but also works with small individual farmers in the region.
One of the reasons why the cooperative was named Buhanga was to pass on the region's cultural history to future generations. In addition, the members are ethically oriented, and their activities focus on promoting women's empowerment.
Women have been involved in Buhanga from the beginning, and the cooperative continues to increase the number of females in leadership roles, giving them space to show and grow their potential.
As a cooperative, farmers can access credit with no interest, which helps to pay personal bills like school fees. This, in turn, helps to increase their community's living standards. The cooperative also provides health insurance to its family members.
One of Buhanga's goals is to not only support and benefit individual associates but also to impact their community.
Cultivation
Conserving the environment is also a priority for the Buhanga coffee cooperative. They grow grasses used in mulching their coffee plantations, which helps reduce soil degradation. They also have a wastewater pit used for water collection, which is later treated to be reused in other agriculture-related activities.
Every cooperative member is involved in re-afforestation activities around our region and community. By doing so, the cooperative is ensuring the sustainability of the environment for future generations.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
Buhanga cooperative employs raised beds for drying their coffee, ensuring optimal air circulation and consistent quality.
Sustainable Harvest
Sustainable Harvest® is a specialty coffee trader focusing primarily on bringing coffees to market that are sourced from smallholder farmer cooperatives in the supply chain such as indigenous communities, women groups and the next generation of coffee farmers.
Their sourcing model is built on transparency, traceability and direct relationships between quality-minded coffee roasters and best-in-class coffee producers. Sustainable Harvest® has an on-site presence at origin with staff in Mexico, Colombia, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Peru. Each office coordinates their supply including quality management, supplier relationships, source development, logistics, training and capacity building.
Coffee in Rwanda
Despite its turbulent history, today Rwanda is one of the specialty coffee world’s darlings – for good reason! Our sister company in Rwanda does an amazing job of bringing the best that Rwanda has to offer to roasters around the world.
German missionaries and settlers brought coffee to Rwanda in the early 1900s. Largescale coffee production was established during the 1930 & 1940s by the Belgian colonial government. Coffee production continued after the Belgian colonists left. By 1970, coffee had become the single largest export in Rwanda and accounted for 70% of total export revenue. Coffee was considered so valuable that, beginning in 1973, it was illegal to tear coffee trees out of the ground.
Between 1989 and 1993, the breakdown of the International Coffee Agreement (ICA) caused the global price to plummet. The Rwandan government and economy took a hard hit from low global coffee prices. The 1994 genocide and its aftermath led to a complete collapse of coffee exports and vital USD revenue, but the incredible resilience of the Rwandan people is evident in the way the economy and stability have recovered since then.
Modern Rwanda is considered one of the most stable countries in the region. Since 2003, its economy has grown by 7-8% per year and coffee production has played a key role in this economic growth. Coffee has also played a role in Rwanda's significant advancements towards gender equality. New initiatives that cater to women and focus on helping them equip themselves with the tools and knowledge for farming have been changing the way women view themselves and interact with the world around them.
Today, smallholders propel the industry in Rwanda forward. The country doesn’t have any large estates. Most coffee is grown by the 400,000+ smallholders, who own less than a quarter of a hectare. The majority of Rwanda’s coffee production is Arabica. Bourbon variety plants comprise 95% of all coffee trees cultivated in Rwanda.