RWANDA Specialty Coffee - Western Province - Washed

Coffees from Rwanda
Like most African coffee producing countries (with the exception of Ethiopia), Rwanda was planted on coffee by European colonial interests in order to supply the booming market back on its home continent. High-yielding, low-cost varieties were introduced in the 1930s and made mandatory for farmers by Belgian settlers, offering little in the way of quality incentive or development: coffee was intended to be a cheap commodity available in abundance, and the colonial government had strict mandates on exports over exports, in addition to imposing high taxes on producers, practically enslaving them to industry. About 75% of Rwanda's land mass is used for agriculture, and more than 35% of its population are subsistence farmers, many of whom depend on coffee for at least a part of their income. While coffee became the agricultural export base in the 1990s (despite very low market prices), its production, along with the national economy at large, was devastated by the genocide in 1994. Nearly a million people were killed. in the national tragedy, which has stalled development and slowed progress for nearly a decade. Targeted programs initiated by the government in the early 2000s encouraged Rwandans to use specialty coffee as one of the means to recover and create a new agricultural market niche. The construction of the first washing station with USAID support in 2004, and the country was the first to host a Cup of Excellence auction, bringing international recognition to the "Land of a Thousand Hills" as a potential producer of exceptional quality. Today, this small country (about the size of Maryland) contributes less than 0.2% of the global coffee supply, but its reputation for special quality and unique characteristics - not to mention the incredible history of its development as a specialty coffee since the genocide - has earned Rwanda a significant place at the table among African origins. Rwanda's Café Profile Trips to the Lake Kivu region have resulted in phenomenal batches of both washing stations like Kabrizi and Kigeyo on the lake's eastern shores, and Gishamwana Island, an apparent coffee paradise where plants are grown, processed and ground in an environment still untouched by the same pests that accumulate on the continent. We were pleased, proud and privileged to work with producers who are currently producing some of the cleanest, most dynamic and highest quality coffees the country and its remarkable terroir have to offer. The Abadatezuka Cooperative is a group of small farmers in the western province of Rwanda who deliver their cherry coffee to the Cyato Wash Station, located in the Cyato sector of the Nayamasheke district in that region. Growers here grow coffee at elevations up to 2,200 meters above sea level, and the washing station is located at 1,850 meters above sea level. The washing station was established in 2017. An interesting facet to the coffee here is that the native bees that live in and around the Nyungwe forest where the coffee is grown are said to be responsible in part for the "unique profile" affected cool climate. by the lake thanks to the area's proximity to Lake Kivu contributes to the flavors found in the glass. Farmers do not use synthetic inputs either as fertilizer or as pest control. We love Rwandan coffee, and we are excited to share the best we can with you.