Rwanda Bwenda

Product detailed description

    Rwanda Bwenda

Taste profile: gooseberry, rhubarb pie, hibiscus tea

Region: Bwenda, Kbumbwe

Washing station: Bwenda

Variety: 100% arabica red bourbon

Process: washed

Altitude: 1 650 masl

Harvest: march - may 2023

187 km southwest of the city of Kigali, through hillsides and rice paddies to the Land of a Thousand Hills, is the Bwenda washing station. Northwest of Butare in the Kbumbwe sector, Bwenda occupies a small area of about 3 ha. Established by RTC in 2019, Bwenda is named after the cell of land it is located on. Its manager since the station was taken over by RTC is Eric, who lives nearby in Huwe.

The station employs 3 full-time staff, including Eric, and provides seasonal work for about 60 casual workers during harvest. Women make up around 85% of the workforce, as they are better and more precise in processing coffee than men.

About 1,600 small farmers from the surrounding area bring coffee cherries to the station. Farm sizes range from as few as 100 trees to 7,000 trees (about 3 hectares), and farms are located between 0.5 km and 4 km. In order to enable farmers to deliver cherries even given the poor access to the station from the farms, the station provides collection points and pickers. The pickers check and weigh the cherry deliveries and pay the farmers immediately. In addition, the station offers EM2 organic compost to farmers, which consists of recycled cherry pulp with designated animal manure.