Burundi Natural Rugembe Hill

This is a naturally processed coffee from 450 smallholder farmers in the village of Rugembe, Mutambu county, in the region of Mumirwa, eastern Burundi.

THE PRODUCERS

This lot is made up of coffee from 450 smallholder farmers in Rugembe village. These farmers typically cultivate an average of 30 coffee trees of the Bourbon variety. Farms range between 1700 and 1800 masl in altitude and farmers deliver their ripe cherries to the central Migoti washing station for processing.

Phillip is often found out working in his fields with his wife, Miriam, working hard to support their family. Philip is also a lay pastor on the side, and he and his wife sheltered our local partner, Pontien, during the twelve year Civil War. We have a soft spot in our hearts for this family and their integrity and grit.

Migoti Coffee has a vision to economically transform the Mutambu community, and quality coffee production is just one of the entrepreneurial projects planned. They have built a spring-fed water supply for the community, piping water from miles away in the highest mountains of Burundi to the community and to their central washing station. They are also actively developing a small hydropower plant to provide low-cost renewable energy to the local community and to the washing station. 

THE ART OF PRODUCTION

The Masenga farmers deliver their ripe coffee cherries to Migoti washing station, owned and managed by Pontien Ntunzwenimana. The cherries are carefully handpicked and floated to select only the densest, high quality cherries, after which they are sun-dried on raised african beds for 4-5 weeks. During this period the cherries are carefully turned to ensure an even drying process, and covered at night or during rain to protect against moisture contamination.

THE REGION

Pontien Ntunzwenimana is the owner of the Migoti Washing Station in Mutambu, Burundi and is a trained civil engineer. He was born and lived through his childhood in Mutambu. Prior to 2015, the multi-generational coffee farmers in Pontien’s home community had all but abandoned coffee as a source of income due to the 12-year civil war (1993-2005) when their Arabica coffee trees were neglected and destroyed.

Another challenge was the great distance between their small farms and washing stations, which led many farmers to home-process lower quality coffee on their farms, gaining unsustainably low prices for their product. With peace in the country and a state-of-the-art coffee washing station that Pontien built in 2016, the local community has new-found hope for the future, and farmers are excited to invest in their coffee farms. Pontien’s three years of green coffee production in Mutambu (2016-2019) have proved the local coffee to be some of the best in Burundi. Pontien continues to work with local farmers to improve quality and quantity in order to build a brighter future for their families and the next generation.