About

Rwanda is blessed with ideal coffee growing conditions that include high altitude, regular rainfall, and volcanic soils with good organic structure. The vast majority of Rwandan coffee is produced by smallholders, often with no more than one hectare per family. Rwandan smallholders organise themselves into cooperatives and share the services of centralised wet mills - or washing stations as they are known locally. This coffee is produced by women farmers who took over ownership and charge of the land. The support that a smallholder farmer often relies on has been found to flourish under this structure. We source the coffee through Kinini, and Jacquie has been active in helping them organise themselves. Jacquie supported the women with registering their cooperative, making 12 groups depending on which village they were near to help manage training and traveling. Jacquie said: "After all this was in place I promised them that I will market their coffee by the co-op name. These women are now coffee expert farmers".