Rwanda - Misozi Union
Fast Facts on Misozi Union
Comprised of six member cooperatives – the cooperatives are its shareholders
Coffee grown on the slopes of high altitude mountains, 1500 to 2200 m
Predominantly Bourbon-variety coffee cherries
Excellent climate, altitude and volcanic soils allows coffee cherries to mature slowly, giving a good sized bean that is rich in flavor and aroma
Misozi is the Kinyarwanda word for “hills”. Misozi is the farmers’ own export and marketing company consisting of six member cooperatives. Cooperative Coffees buys from two of the six members, IAKB and Abakangukiyekawa.
The Misozi cooperatives are spread across the lush mountains of Rwanda. This is the very rooftop of Africa, the watershed between the two great rivers, the Nile and the Congo, extending from the natural forests of the south to the volcanoes of the north. Each place and people has their own character and beauty, and from each cooperative comes a distinctive coffee of the highest quality.
Fresh beans Hearing from the farmer’s perspective:
“Since I was a child, coffee has meant a lot to me – income for food, clothes, and school fees…Early on my parents gave me a few trees to look after as a kind of inheritance…we invested a lot in our trees in terms of time and mulching…but we were getting very low prices from the middlemen. So in 1990 we formed an association, to combine our harvest. Later, when we heard about a coffee washing station near Kigali, one of us went to see. That was how the idea was hatched – and we started in 2003 with our own mini washing station. It was successful, and we have extended it to what we have today. Now we get much better prices.” – Constance Niyamboro.
A fellow farmer Speciose Baziruwiha adds, “Coffee for us is more than just a crop. It is our main income, our wealth and security. Now we’re selling our coffee directly, other farmers are very keen to join the cooperative.”
IAKB Cooperative
IAKB is locatead in the valley of the Kagera River, the source of the Nile. This is near the spectacular Rusumo falls, and a network of seven lakes, close to the border with Tanzania. The coffee farms are in the coffee-banana belt on the edge of the Kagera National Park, home to hippos, giraffe, buffaloes, elephants and lions.
IAKB is a cooperative association smallholder farmers with 602 smallholder farmers, 199 of whom are women. They have been FLO certified 2005 They offer fully washed bourbon arabica beans, grown at an altitude of 1,600 – 1,900 meters. Their washing station located at Sakara uses stream-fed water with recirculation to minimise water use, traditional disk pulping, dry fermentation with intermediate washing, washing and grading for density, and soaking in rainwater. They handsort for defects, dry on tables with shadenet and nylex, and parchment storage is in jute-and-sisal bags.
ABAKANGUKIYEKAWA
Located in the Kager river basin, east of the capital, Kigali Name means, “The people who’ve got coffee in their blood”. More details to come.
Fast Facts on COOPAC
Founded in April 2001, with 110 members
Members today: 2200 and their 8000 families membersLogo
Region: Rubavu & Rutsiro
Geographical overview: on volcanic soils at altitude between 1500m and 1900m.
Species and Variety: Arabica Bourbon Mayaguez
COOPAC (Cooperative pour la Promotion des Activities Café) was founded in April 2001 with 110 members. Working collectively, COOPAC focused on regenerating the coffee sector in the Gisenyi region of Lake Kivu.
“Our initial objective was to take advantage of the excellent natural resources in our region and focus on producing the highest quality coffee for the gourmet market,” says Emmanuel. “But our ultimate goal is to see higher returns for our collective efforts and to increase the well being of our members – the coffee producers of this region.”COOPAC was quick to see returns on its investments. Prices began climbing in recognition of the quality improvements and likewise, the organization began to grow. In 2002 COOPAC included more than 300 members. In 2003, COOPAC constructed the Nyamwenda washing station and achieved FLO certification. In 2004 membership had risen to 1,500 members. Last year that number reached 2,198 members from the six areas of Ack, Ubuzima, Tuzamurane, Kopabm, Abakundakurima and Abanyamurava, and exported 12 containers of Fair Trade certified coffee.
Lake Kivu, a region with rich volcanic soils, frequent rainfall and good altitude, is also earning the reputation for supplying the finest quality Rwanda has to offer. During the East African Fine Coffee Association annual conference and regional quality competition, COOPAC placed first for the continent.
But not resting on its awards, COOPAC continues to push to transform coffee culture and improve cultivation practices. “For our high production and for our quality recognition, the Rwandan government offers awards to our farmers in the form of chemical fertilizer prizes,” Emmanuel explains. “But this is not the kind of support we want. We have been attempting to lobby our government to offer a cow to every family instead. That would be a sustainable resource for us – with one cow per family, we could guarantee a continual supply of organic fertilizer over the years to come.”COOPAC was the first cooperative in the Giseny and Rutsiro regions of Lake Kivu to build a collective washing station. That was the Nyamwenda station constructed in 2003 (partial grant, partial credit). Today, some 50 washing stations dot the northern lake landscape.
“Between the cooperative and the private washing stations, there is now an intense local competition for the Kivu coffee cherries,” COOPAC general manager Emmanuel Rwakagera explains.
And the proof is in the pricing. Where local middlemen might offer 80 to 100 Rwandan Francs per kilo of cherry in other regions of the country, Kivu cherries are fetching 100 to 130 Francs at the peak of the season.
With their Fair Trade Premium, COOPAC has been able to: * Assist in school construction * Assist in the construction of health-care clinics * Assist in the construction of roads and bridges * Assist in the well-being of women and the young
