Rwanda – COOPAC – Kabirizi – Nyabiti – Fair Trade Organic – Microlot – Green Unroasted

Taste: We carry few Rwanda beans that we’ve cupped and tested to ensure they meet high quality standards.  This FTO bean is full-bodied, sweet and savory with a smooth mouthfeel and long finish more similar to a Colombian than other African beans.  This excellent offering  is worth a try, and you will not be disappointed.

 About: Coopac was established in April of 2001 with 1100 memebers aiming to regenerate the coffee sector in the Gisenyi region of Lake Kivu. The initial objectives was to take advantage of the excellent natural resources in our region and focus on producing the highest quality coffee for the gourmet market so as to gain higher returns for our collective efforts thereby increase the well being of all our members. COOPAC coffee Prices has been steadily climbing in recognition of the quality improvements in turn the well being of its members has drastically improved through FairTrade initiatives that guarantee the farmers get their fair share. COOPAC went on to cr.onstruct the Nyamwenda washing station in 2003 with partial grant, partial credit. Today, some 50 washing stations dot the northern lake landscape and CCOPAC has achieved FLO certification. The membership in 2004 had risen to 1,500 members. Currently that number stands at 2,198 members from the six areas of Ack, Ubuzima, Tuzamurane, Kopabm, Abakundakurima and Abanyamurava, and exported 12 containers of Fair Trade certified coffee.

COOPAC is currently promoting and providing shade tree saplings and agroforestry education to all its members so as to adhere to strict organic practices with ongoing assistance provided to fair trade community based initiatives which has so far enabled in the construction of schools, health-care clinics, roads and bridges as well as local women and youth development programs

Like most African coffee-producing countries (with the exception of Ethiopia), Rwanda was planted in coffee by colonial interests from Europe in order to supply the booming market back on their home continent. High-yield, low-cost varieties were introduced in the 1930s and made compulsory to farmers by Belgian colonials, offering little in the way of quality incentive or development. Coffee was intended to be a cheap commodity available in abundance, and the colonial government held strict mandates over exports in addition to imposing very high taxes on growers, practically enslaving them to the industry. Roughly 75 percent of the land mass of Rwanda is used for agriculture, and more than 35 percent of its population are subsistence farmers, many of whom rely on coffee for at least a portion of their income.

While coffee became the staple agricultural export by the 1990s (despite very low market prices), its production, along with the national economy in general, was devastated by the genocide in 1994. Nearly 1 million people were killed in the national tragedy, which stalled development and slowed progress for nearly a decade. Targeted programs initiated by the government in the early 2000s encouraged Rwandans to use specialty coffee as one of the means to recover and create a new niche agricultural market. The erection of the first washing station with USAID support in 2004, and the country was the first to host a Cup of Excellence auction, bringing international recognition to the “Land of a Thousand Hills” as a potential producer of exceptional quality.

Today, this tiny country (roughly the size of Maryland) contributes less than 0.2 percent of the global coffee supply, but its reputation for special quality and unique characteristics—not to mention the incredible story of its development as a specialty-coffee origin since the genocide—have earned Rwanda a significant place at the table among African origins.