Tanzania Robusta AB Fair Trade (2017 Crop)

This is an AB Fair Trade certified Robusta coffee from Tanzania. It is 95% over screen 15. Grown in the highlands of Bukoba in Western Tanzania, bordering Lake Victoria, this Robusta coffee is grown by smallholder farmers with an average of 2.3 acres each. Most farmers intercrop with other staple food crops, providing good shade for the coffee. The mix of coffee, bananas, beans, maize and fruit trees ensure a bio diversity, and in addition to plants providing shade and good compost material, legumes like beans function as a binder for nitrogen. Offering support to farmers in the community, the KADERES (Karagwe Development and Relief Service) programme is assisting farmers to improve harvesting methods, as well as offering microcredits for farmers. After picking, the coffee is dried on clean tarp on the ground to avoid contamination, before it is hulled and prepared for export. This crop is comprised of local varieties called Uganda and Bukoba and is 95% over screen 15.