America s Growing Coffee Since Colonial Times - 1723 Words

Rwandans have been growing coffee since colonial times, but until 1999 the product was classed below Grade C, making it unsalable on the global markets.[1][2] The farmers did not have the means to wash and prepare their coffee cherries to specifications in a timely manner. Buyers paid US$0.33 per kilogram, a price that kept the farmers poor.[3] In 1999, 220 coffee growers formed an association in the Maraba district (part of the former Butare Province) to tackle this problem. Many of these farmers had lost family members during the 1994 genocide, while others had husbands in prison, accused of participating in the killings and due to face trial in the traditional gacaca courts.[4] They named the association Abahuzamugambi, a Kinyarwanda†¦show more content†¦PEARL started working with Abahuzamugambi in February 2001 to improve the coffee quality to standards required by the specialty coffee market in the United States.[5] The coffee farmers of Maraba first needed a washing station to remove sugar from the coating of the coffee bean, under the skin. If this sugar is not removed within 12 hours of picking, the flavour of the coffee is impaired.[6] They built the first station in July 2001 in the Cyarumbo sector, close to the main road, with funding from UNR, the Office des Cultures Industrielles du Rwanda (OCIR-Cafà ©), ACDI/VOCA, and the Institut des Sciences Agronomiques du Rwanda (ISAR). The opening was late in the harvest season, so only 200 kilograms (441 lb) of that year s harvest were suitable for washing. However, the results were reasonably good, and the station was upgraded to allow more coffee to be processed in 2002. To bring mineral water from Mount Huye to the upgraded station, ACDI/VOCA helped fund a pipeline, which opened in March 2002.[5] A new certification system was introduced for the 2002 harvest to ensure that beans brought to the station were of suitable quality. Around half of the Abahuzamugambi membership attained the certification, which allowed the cooperative to look for serious buyers in the specialty markets of Europe and North America.[5] International acceptance[edit] The Cyarumba washing station PEARL brought a