RUJCAFE FW

The RUJCAFE (Ruhunde Jeunes Caféiculteurs) cooperative was founded by a Geography teacher in Ruhunde village to help train and employ young people of working age in the village. In addition to teaching Geography at Ruhunde Institute, Danny Fazili Bahati, works as the main cherry collector for SOPACDI cooperative in Ruhunde.

In 2018, Danny increased production capacity at SOPACDI’s washing station, and his two passions – teaching and coffee production – aligned. Danny began hiring young people to work at the washing station and he invited local leaders to meet with him to find other solutions to the problem of high youth unemployment. Danny and the community leaders decided to form RUJCAFE.

To help them gain training in specialty coffee production, RUJCAFE partnered with several organizations that support actors in the coffee sector. A RUJCAFE founding member gave his land, which sits a little above Lake Kivu, for the cooperative to build a washing station.

RUJCAFE washing station began operating in 2019. That first year, they sold their harvest on the local market to another cooperative. In 2020, Sucafina purchased all of RUJCAFE’s specialty lots.

South Kivu has nutrient-rich volcanic soil and ideal climatic conditions for growing Arabica coffee.

Smallholder farmers handpick cherry and deliver it to the washing station. Cherry is pulped in an ecopulper. After a period of wet fermentation, parchment is washed in clean water and laid on drying beds. Parchment is turned frequently to ensure even drying. It takes approximately 14 days for parchment to dry.