Farm Profile: Rwanda Musasa Cooperative

Farm:	Musasa Cooperative
Varietals:	100% Red Bourbon
Processing:	Full-washed
Owner:	Members of the cooperative (800)
Region:	Rushashi District, Ruli Sector
Altitude:	1,800m

Cup Profile and Tasting Notes

Sweet bourbon coffee, bright, with refined acidity. Notes of caramelised sugar, floral & berry notes, chocolate and nuts.  On the nose it has unusual marsala, wood and dark earthiness. Excellent balance, with a silky, claret-like mouthfeel (especially as it cools) and a rich earthy-aftertaste.

Details of the Growers

In the early 1990’s coffee was Rwanda’s most lucrative export and supported millions of small-scale farmers.  The 1994 genocide claimed the lives of nearly a million Rwandans, destroyed Rwanda’s economy and severely damaged the coffee industry and the skills base necessary to support it. Simultaneously, world coffee prices plummeted due to a mismatch of supply and demand and the concentration of buying in the hands of multinational corporations. With the price of lower-grade coffees below the cost of production for a large proportion of farmers, this resulted in millions of coffee trees in Rwanda not being harvested. Rwanda now produces less than half the amount of coffee it did in 1990.

However, Rwanda’s coffee sector retains tremendous potential. Rwanda’s climate, altitude, and high-quality, heirloom bourbon-variety coffee trees give it the ability to produce excellent coffees for the specialty coffee market. In contrast to commodity-grade coffees, speciality coffee prices have risen sharply over the last 10 years.

The Partnership for Enhancing Agriculture in Rwanda through Linkages (PEARL) project was founded to help rebuild Rwanda’s agricultural institutions, production capability, and human capital so that the country’s small farmers can sell their coffee directly to buyers in the specialty market and receive appropriately high prices for their product. To achieve this objective, PEARL created and supported coffee cooperatives, which allow Rwanda’s small growers to combine their harvests into container-sized shipments. The project educates the farmers on the coffee market and the technical requirements for producing speciality coffee. Farmers are trained to cup (taste) so that they can identify the quality & flavours of their coffees, and remove defective lots. Scale, consistency of quality across harvests, and assistance in linking the cooperatives to buyers in speciality coffee markets have all been key factors for success.

With its initial objectives achieved, the 12 cooperatives were transitioned to a new association called RWASHOSCCO, which also deploys agronomists & technical experts to the cooperatives. A central cupping & quality assessment facility has also been put into place, and they are planning to build a dry mill. On average at these cooperatives, the farmers’ incomes have more than doubled, allowing them to purchase essential supplies that were previously unattainable.

The PEARL project has evolved into a new initiative called Sustaining Partnerships to Enhance Rural Enterprise and Agribusiness Development (SPREAD) which is a developmental alliance among U.S. and Rwandan universities, U.S. and European industries, Rwandan enterprises and institutions, and U.S. and Rwandan NGOs. SPREAD targets rural Rwandan agricultural cooperatives and enterprises involved in high value commodity chains and provides them with appropriate technical assistance and access to health related services and information that will result in increased and sustained incomes and improved livelihoods.

Another interesting Rwandan coffee-related project is driven by Tom Ritchey, the inventor of the mountain bike. Project Rwanda supplies specially-designed bicycles to the farmers, thereby improving their lives and livelihoods.

Mercanta has invested heavily over a number of years in developing its relationships with several cooperatives in Rwanda. Origin is in its third season of buying Rwandan cooperative coffees, with Musasa being one of the favorite of all coffees sold at Origin. As a matter of interest, one of the other large buyers of the Musasa crop is Fortnum and Mason of the UK.

Joel Singer, co-owner of Origin Coffee Roasting, visited Rwanda in November 2006.  He spent time with these various projects and visited the Musasa Cooperative, which is located in in Ruli sector, in the Rushashi district. Musasa is one of the larger cooperatives in Rwanda with around 800 members, of which 400 are women and 150 also work in the mill. The cooperative has 2 pulping stations and annual production is now around 100-120 tons of green coffee.

In 2003, the Musasa cooperative built their washing station with the help of a FRW40 million donation from the Rwandan Ministry of Defense. The donation allowed the cooperative to complete the station in time for the 2003 growing season. In exchange for the grant, Musasa cooperative agreed to donate 10% of its net profits each year to a government fund that will be used to construct other washing stations throughout Rwanda.

By producing quality that meets the quality standards demanded by the international market, Musasa cooperative drastically increased the quality of life for its members. By operating in an economically and environmentally sustainable manner, the cooperative has ensured that future generations of Rwandans will be able to obtain a high quality of life through the coffee industry.

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