Wikipedia:WikiProject WikiFundi Content/Maraba coffee
Maraba coffee (
Maraba's coffee plants are the
The beans are sold to various roasting companies, with the best beans going to
About 2,000 smallholder farmers grow the coffee plants under the Abahuzamugambi cooperative, founded in 1999. Since 2000, the cooperative has been supported by the National University of Rwanda (NUR) and the PEARL. The cooperative has improved coffee quality and penetrated the speciality market.
History
Origins
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] 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.[2]
In 1999, 220 coffee growers formed an association in the Maraba district (part of the former
In 2000, the mayor of Maraba requested development aid from the
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.[5] 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-Café), 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.[4]
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.[4]
International acceptance
PEARL brought a specialty coffee expert to Rwanda, who put them in touch with a seller, Louisiana-based Community Coffee, to help market Maraba.[6] They sent samples to Louisiana, and in June 2002 a representative from Community visited Maraba. Rwandan president Paul Kagame was also present, as the government placed great importance on the project.[7] Community purchased an 18,000 kilogram (40,000 lb) container of Maraba beans at the above-average rate of US$3 per kilogram.[7] The beans were transported to Louisiana, where they were roasted and blended into one of the company's gourmet coffees. This was the first direct contract between an American roaster and an African coffee cooperative.[6]
UCR distributed its Maraba Coffee in early 2003 via Sainsbury's supermarkets,[11] which sold the product in all 350 of its stores in the run up to that year's Red Nose Day.[12] In 2003, the Abahuzamugambi Cooperative made US$35,000 in net profits. Of this, 70 percent was divided among the farmers at US$0.75 per kilogram provided, an amount more than three times that paid to other coffee growers in Rwanda and sufficient to pay for health care and education services which were not previously affordable.[13] The remaining 30 percent was invested back into the cooperative and spent on buying calcium carbonate,[4] an agricultural lime used to reduce acidity in the soil caused by run off of minerals during rainfall.[14]
Recent years: independence and coffee beer
Beginning in 2003, PEARL deemed the operation self-sufficient and reduced financial support for the Abahuzamugambi Cooperative. The cooperative provided its growers with loans that helped improve living standards and allowed for livestock investments, affordable medical insurance, and education. A cooperative bank was opened in the village in March, enabling farmers to maintain and manage their own funds locally, rather than having to trek the long distance to Butare.[15]
In late 2004, London-based
In 2006, the Swedish
Geography and climate
Maraba coffee is grown in the south of Rwanda at coordinates 2°35′S 29°40′E / 2.583°S 29.667°E, roughly 12 kilometres (7 mi) from
Production cycle
The main
The technicians start the
The technicians wash the beans several times to remove the remains of the skin and coating and put them out on shaded racks to dry.[26] Cooperative employees turn the beans regularly as technicians spot and remove bad beans. A longer drying process of up to two weeks in the sun follows (with provision for quick covering in the event of rain), again with constant turning. This last process reduces the water content of the bean from 40 percent to 12 percent.[26]
The technicians then move the beans to the technical centre in nearby Kizi. Certain machines, housed in a warehouse up the side of the hill, remove the parchment skins from the beans.[27] Employees take the beans into the adjacent laboratory for the final quality control process – hand sorting – which is carried out by several experienced women.[28] The beans are bagged and labeled according to their quality, and stored in the compound's warehouse to await sale.
Products and customers
As of 2006, Maraba produces 80 short tons (73,000 kg) of export-quality coffee per year, of which 40 tons go to roasters and sellers in the United Kingdom and 40 tons to the United States.[13]
The coffee appears in the following products:
- Maraba Bourbon coffee, produced by Union Coffee for Sainsbury's and other UK-based outlets.[13]
- "New Orleans Jazz" Blend and Hotel blend, two Community Coffee brands containing a blend of Maraba and other coffees. As of 2006, Community are considering launching Maraba as a single origin brand.[13]
- Café de Maraba, the brand produced by Rwanda Roasters and sold in upmarket shops in Rwanda, including all Intercontinental Hotel.
- Meantime Coffee, the beer produced by Meantime Breweries of London.
- Intelligentsia have used the coffee in various blends in 2005, due to their shipment arriving late, but intends also to launch it as a single-origin brand in the future.[13]
See also
References and notes
- ^ New York Coffee Exchange Overview coffeeresearch.org (Accessed 21 September 2006)
- ^ Voluntary Service Overseas (2004). "Coffee, Fairtrade & Rwanda" (PDF). p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-03-26. Retrieved 2015-03-25.
- ^ Rwandan cooperative shows reconciliation needed to draw refugees home, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (Accessed 21 September 2006)
- ^ a b c d e f The Maraba Bourbon Coffee Story... Partnership to Enhance Agriculture in Rwanda (PEARL) (Accessed 21 September 2006)
- ^ a b c d Voluntary Service Overseas (2004). "Coffee, Fairtrade & Rwanda" (PDF). p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-03-26. Retrieved 2015-03-25.
- ^ a b "Cup of Good Hope" The Greater Baton Rouge Business Report, 7 Jan 2003 issue. Web version retrieved by Internet Archive from the Business Report website on 26 June 2004. (Accessed 21 September 2006)
- ^ a b "President Kagame commends Maraba coffee farmers" Government of Rwanda official website (Accessed 21 September 2006) Archived October 3, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Rwanda's genocide could have been prevented. The UN let people die and now it watches as the survivors die" The Observer 28 March 2004. (Accessed 21 September 2006).
- ^ "Project Past and Future - Quality and Fairtrade". Archived from the original on 2005-02-15. Union Coffee Roasters (Accessed 21 September 2006)
- ^ "Our World - Abahuzamugambi Bakawa Co-operative". Archived from the original on 2005-02-11. Union Coffee Roasters (Accessed 27 September 2006)
- DFIDInternational Development Magazine, Issue 25. (Accessed 21 September 2006)
- ^ "Project Past and Future - Return to Rwanda". Archived from the original on 2005-02-15. Union Coffee Roasters (Accessed 21 September 2006)
- ^ a b c d e Maraba Coffee - Some facts - coffeemachinereviewer.com website. (Accessed 19 September 2006)
- ^ Significance of Lime Application in Coffee Plantations INeedCoffee. (Accessed 21 September 2006)
- ^ "Project Past and Future - Hope for a better future". Archived from the original on 2005-02-13. Union Coffee Roasters. (Accessed 21 September 2006)
- ^ a b c Rwandan coffee used to make beer BBC News, 8 December 2004. (Accessed 21 September 2006)
- ^ Fairtrade certified products: Beer and Ale (PDF) The Fairtrade Foundation (Accessed 21 September 2006)
- ^ Gold Medal Coffee Beer Meantime Brewing (Accessed 21 September 2006)
- ^ 2006 Brewers Association World Beer Cup Winners Brewers Association. (Accessed 21 September 2014)
- ^ "Swedish Minister Praises Maraba Coffee Growers" The New Times, Kigali, 10 May 2006. Reproduced at Rwanda Development Gateway. (Accessed 21 September 2006).
- ^ Willy Mugenzi, "Maraba Coffee Growers Get US$15,000 Tele-Center" Africa News Service, Kigali, 18 July 2006. (Accessed 21 September 2006)
- ^ Provinces of Rwanda Statoids.com (Accessed 21 September 2006)
- ^ a b Information from label on the back of the coffee packet
- ^ Rwanda Climate Nation's Encyclopedia (Accessed 21 September 2006)
- ^ a b Rwanda map and information page WorldAtlas.com (Accessed 21 September 2006)
- ^ a b c d e Voluntary Service Overseas (2004). "Coffee, Fairtrade & Rwanda" (PDF). p. 9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-03-26. Retrieved 2015-03-25.
- ^ Voluntary Service Overseas (2004). "Coffee, Fairtrade & Rwanda" (PDF). p. 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-03-26. Retrieved 2015-03-25.
- ^ Voluntary Service Overseas (2004). "Coffee, Fairtrade & Rwanda" (PDF). p. 11. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-03-26. Retrieved 2015-03-25.
External links
- Partnership for Enhancing Agriculture in Rwanda through Linkages (PEARL)
- The Abahuzamugambi Coffee Cooperative (pearl.org.rw)
- Profile of the Abahuzamugambi Coffee Farmers' Co-operative, Rwanda (fairtrade.org.uk)
- The Abahuzamugambi Co-operative, Rwanda (peopleandplanet.org)