About This Coffee
Nyamurinda Coffee Growers (NCG) was established by sisters Mukamana Immaculee and Nyiramana Francine. Immaculee and Francine are the only surviving members of their family after the 1994 genocide. Together, they returned to their family’s land where they began planting coffee in 2013. By 2016, they were cultivating coffee on 10 hectares of land. Later that year, they expanded their business by building a washing station that could process cherry from neighboring farmers.
Today, NCG’s washing station employs a large workforce composed predominately of women. A full 85% of their workforce is female and the fair wages they earn through NCG makes it possible for them to afford health care and other basic needs. NCG also focuses on working with women’s cooperatives and other women’s empowerment groups.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
Cherry is selectively handpicked and delivered to NCG’s washing station. After thorough handsorting, ripe cherry is pulped on a disc pulper and then fermented for 12 hours. Following fermentation, parchment is washed in clean water to remove any remaining mucilage and then transferred to drying beds. Workers rake parchment frequently to ensure even drying. It takes approximately 16 to 22 days for parchment to sundry.
The station maintains traceability for cherry from the sisters’ farm and outgrowers throughout processing. The sisters then selected the highest quality coffee from all their lots to create this Fully washed selection.
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.