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Global coffee industry players will be participating in forum in July 2021, hosted by Rwanda aimed at finding solutions to various challenges in the sector.

“This platform for producers will help understand and seek solutions for many issues threatening farmers’ livelihoods and coffee production,” Rwanda government said on Tuesday.

According to organisers, this forum has attracted more than 1,500 regional and international virtual participants, from over 40 coffee producing countries across the globe.

Participants include coffee producers, policy makers, roasters, importers and exporters among others; all focusing on the intersection of coffee and sustainable development, economic sustainability, rural development and socioeconomic indicators, and adaptation to climate change.

With the devastating effects of Covid-19 pandemic on the global economy, the coffee sector has also been significantly hit because consumption has drastically dropped.

Exporters have since reported facing supply-side constraints like labour shortages and costly freight charges attributed to COVID-19 restrictions.

Research findings from the Africa Great Lakes Coffee Support Program (AGLC) have revealed that low and stagnating production has placed Rwanda’s coffee sector in a vulnerable state.

Perennially low coffee prices (24% below others in the region) have resulted in low, often negative profits to farmers, discouraging them from investing in their plantations.

In simpler terms, farmers have been left out of Rwanda’s “coffee renaissance” over the past 15 years and the consequences are now more apparent than ever.

Many farmers report that losses in coffee have driven them to abandon their coffee trees and increasingly to uproot them in favor of other, more profitable crops.

However, despite all these trends, the National Agriculture Exports Development Board (NAEB) says, Rwanda’s specialty coffee production rate moved from almost zero in 2000 to 58% in 2017 and projected to grow to 80% of total coffee produce by 2020.

During the 2019/2020 fiscal year, Rwanda’s coffee exports generated over U$60.4 million, a decrease of about 12% compared to U$68.7 million in 2018/2019, according to NAEB’s June 2020 report that compared the performance of the agricultural export in 2019/2020 and that in 2018/2019.

Rwanda has been aggressively pursuing adjustments that would ensure coffee farmers retain their coffee plantations and also attract more youth into the sector.

For example, Rwanda in January 2020, introduced new farm-gate prices of Rwf248/kg from Rwf216/kg representing a 14.8% increase.

Fulgence Sebazungu the President of Rwanda Coffee Cooperatives’ Federation (RCCF), which represents coffee growers in the country, said, farmers had been expressing concern over low coffee price which were disproportionate with their efforts.

“Increasing price for coffee cherries, instead of going down during this Covid-19 period, was a motivation to farmers to get interested in taking care of their coffee trees,” he said.

Kirinyaga and Machakos counties have resolved to enter into partnership in a bid to look for good market for coffee so that farmers can get better prices for their produce.

This resolution was made at Kagio area in Ndia Constituency during a meeting between Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua and his Kirinyaga counterpart Anne Waiguru.

The county bosses said time has come for the counties to collaborate on matters trade to improve the living standards of the farmers who have for decades been earning peanuts from their produce.

“We shall be marketing coffee internationally so that our farmers can benefit,” said Mr Mutua.

Mr Mutua noted that it was important for the counties to work together to increase farmers’ income.

Ms Waiguru said farmers from her region had already started getting high returns from coffee and the partnership will make them earn more money to be able to educate their children and meet other financial obligations.

Bilateral trade

The governors also resolved to enter into bilateral trade to spur economic growth in their regions.

“We have discussed on how we shall open our markets so that our people can trade together. We want the two counties to exchange goods in order to promote trade. In Machakos we produce a lot of green grams, chicken and goats which can be sold in Kirinyaga,” added Mr Mutua.

Mr Mutua said Kirinyaga was doing good in terms of trade and he has even sent a team to the region to do bench marking.

“Governor Waiguru is doing a good job for her people and we would like to learn of a lot from her,” he said.

Ms Waiguru said that her county is the leading producer of rice and tomatoes and Machakos can benefit from the produce.

SAN FRANCISCO, May 27, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Kahawa 1893 coffee has made history as the first Black woman-owned coffee brand to be sold at Trader Joe’s. Earlier this month, Kahawa 1893 debuted on shelves in all 200 Trader Joe’s stores in California. The brand’s momentous rollout will be followed by expansion into other regions across the nation. 

“Being the first Black woman-owned coffee brand to be sold in Trader Joe’s is not only an exciting time for me but also signifies a commitment in showcasing the amazing diversity in the marketplace by Black-owned brands,” stated Margaret Nyamumbo, Founder and CEO of Kahawa 1893. “I am thrilled to share the rich and aromatic flavors of Kahawa 1893, a true Kenyan coffee with consumers while supporting the female African coffee farmers who are an integral part of this incredible journey.”

Kahawa 1893 coffee is grown in Kenya and roasted fresh in San Francisco by Nyamumbo, a third-generation coffee farmer. The brand offers whole beans, ground, and convenient, eco-friendly single-serve coffee packs— compostable coffee bags that steep within 5 minutes. A variety of blends including Kenyan, Peaberry, Serengeti, Ethiopian, Safari, 1893 Espresso, Decaf, and Single-Serve Coffee are available.

Nyamumbo, a former Wall Street Investment Banker and Harvard graduate, created Kahawa 1893 in 2017 as a means of providing premium, traceable Kenyan coffee to consumers while helping to empower female African coffee farmers with sustainable wages.

“When a consumer buys coffee at Trader Joe’s, they can scan a QR code and send a tip to a farmer’s e-wallet who will receive that money directly. Kahawa 1893 matches all tips to double the impact,” continued Nyamumbo.

For world-class coffee tasters, one noisy slurp from a cup brewed with Kenya’s finest beans is enough to register the distinct flavors and aromas hitting the palate.Phrases like a “bold layered profile,” a “well-balanced taste” or “bright acidity” might be thrown around by this elite class able to differentiate multiple varieties of coffee and even guess their origin.

But to a majority of Kenyans, who’ve lived with coffee trees for over a century now, the fuss of the quality of their bean remains just an overt romanticism.

A coffee drinking culture hardly exists, with many Kenyans going for the lowest quality bean – instant coffee – or preferring tea.

About 95 per cent of production is exported with the measly domestic demand perhaps only supported by the floating middle class.  

Coffee, the world’s most traded commodity after oil, is one of the country’s top foreign exchange-earners.

In 2019, Kenyan coffee exports registered earnings worth Sh20.3 billion, with a kilo of the unroasted beans fetching Sh417, higher than tea, which fetched Sh239 per kilo.

Farmers might call it “black gold,” but of all Kenya’s cash crops, coffee has one of the darkest histories marked by bloodshed, enslavement and dispossession of land.