Rwanda, the rising star of recent years, has become a sought-after production center for its low quantity but high quality coffees.

Rwanda
Coffee

Rwanda
Coffee .

The first coffee was brought to Rwanda by German missionaries in the early 1900s.

High-scale production began in the early 1930s, when Belgium became a colony. Belgium made it mandatory for farmers to grow coffee, yet paid farmers low.

With the end of the colonial period, some farmers abandoned this obligation and stopped growing.

Global Production Ranking

#29

Annual Average Production

280,000 *

* In 60 kg bags

Regions

Lake Kivu

Butare

Nyanza | Rulindo

Ngoma District

Arabica Varieties

French Bourbon

Bourbon

Caturra

Catuai

Mibirizi

Harvesting
Period

March - June

Thanks to the farmers who continue to grow high quality coffee in Rwanda, 75% of which is agricultural land, it was the most important export item of country by the 1970s. So much so that even the cutting of coffee trees was prohibited at that time. Most of the plantations are high and are usually situated between 1500 -2000 meters above sea. Bourbon is the most commonly grown Arabica variety and 95% of all Arabica trees are bourbon. In Rwanda, the vast majority of the coffee is fully wet processed.

Coffee in Rwanda has silky, creamy body along with the floral notes of Ethiopian coffee and the acidity of a Kenya coffee.

Coffee industry in the country is still young. After the decline in production during the civil war and genocide in 1994, it quickly recovered with the support of the state.

Arabica
Production
&
Tasting
Notes .

Rwanda
Coffee
Today .

In the past, Rwandan farmers processed their own coffee at home. Homemade fruit sorting, washing, fermentation and drying on the ground reduced the quality of the product. Today, there are approximately 300 washing stations within the borders of Rwanda. With the increase in the number of stations and processing quality, Rwandan coffee has become much more quality and valuable for export.

Today, with 400,000 small-scale coffee farmers, Rwanda realizes 0.2% of the world's coffee production.

The biggest obstacle of coffee production in Rwanda is transportation. As the country is landlocked, distance to export ports negatively affects the costs of coffee. For sure, for coffee enthusiasts, tasting a cup of coffee from Rwanda is an indispensable pleasure.