Featured Article Summary #188

Maraba coffee is grown in the Maraba area of southern Rwanda. The coffee plants are Bourbon (Coffea arabica) grown on fertile volcanic soils on high-altitude hills. Farmers handpick the fruit, mostly during the rainy season from March to May, then bring it to a washing station in Maraba where the beans are extracted and dried, with quality sorting done several times. Farmers earn credits based on both the amount and quality of the beans they supply. The coffee is sold to roasting companies in places such as the UK and US, while RWASHOSCCO buys it for Rwanda’s domestic market, and it can even be brewed into beer. Around 500,000 smallholder farmers grow the coffee through the Abahuzamugambi cooperative, which has been supported since 2000 by the National University of Rwanda and PEARL to improve quality and expand into specialty markets. Rwandans had grown coffee for generations, but until 1999 it was often graded too low to sell internationally because farmers lacked the facilities and time to properly wash and prepare cherries. In 1999, 220 growers in Maraba formed the Abahuzamugambi association to improve income by selling directly and reinvesting profits to increase quality and production. With support from the National University of Rwanda and the PEARL program, they built a washing station in 2001, improved it in 2002, and introduced certification so about half of members could meet standards needed for speciality buyers in Europe and North America. A US coffee company, Community Coffee, was connected with Maraba through a specialist and later signed the first direct contract between an American roaster and an African cooperative, buying an 18,000 kg container of beans in 2002 and roasting and blending them for sale. Comic Relief and British roaster Union Coffee Roasters also became involved, helping Maraba gain Fairtrade certification in 2002 and distribute the coffee through UK supermarkets in 2003. That year the Abahuzamugambi Cooperative earned net profits, passing most of the money to farmers and using the rest to reinvest in improving soil health. From 2003, PEARL reduced its financial support and considered the Abahuzamugambi Cooperative self-sufficient. The cooperative helped growers with loans to improve living conditions, invest in livestock, and access affordable health and education, and it later opened a local cooperative bank so farmers could manage their money in the village instead of traveling to Butare. As the area expanded, more washing stations were added from 2004 to 2007. Maraba coffee also gained international attention, including being used to make a coffee beer by London-based Meantime Brewing that was sold in the UK and later changed in strength and coffee content, losing its Fairtrade status in 2006 but still using Maraba beans. Visits and development projects supported the region too, including the opening of a telecentre in 2006 with help from USAID and Washington State University, and the SPREAD programme, which aimed to strengthen rural enterprises and work toward geographical indicator/“designation of origin” certification for Rwandan coffees like Maraba. In 2008 Rwanda hosted the Cup of Excellence for the first time in Africa, with coffees judged in cupping sessions at Maraba’s laboratory. The Cup of Excellence returned to Rwanda every year from 2010 to 2015 and again in 2018, and Maraba-linked farms were among the winners throughout. Maraba coffee marked its 10th anniversary in 2012, reaching 1,400 growers and assets worth 250 million Rwandan francs. From 2013 to 2015 it expanded by adding 1,550 hectares of new coffee land, and because competition increased, the cooperative focused on quality to keep buyers’ confidence.