KOPAKAMA - Rwanda 2015 Verified listing

Located in Mushubati Sector, Rutsiro District, located in the Western Province and lies on the Congo Nile Crest. Rutsiro features many tourism attractions on the shores of Lake Kivu. KOPAKAMA CWS process coffee from trees grown on steep hills at high altitude by cooperative members and neigbhours. With KOPAKAMA cooperatives, our members have benefits from getting jobs at the CWS in addition to supply cherries. The CWS is operating from 2005 and is owned by a cooperative known as KOPAKAMA which is supported by MISOZI which is an umbrella for many cooperatives that grow and process coffee to assist them for promotion and export of their coffees

How do we get High quality fully washed coffee?

Our coffee is wet processed to get the right taste. Our quality regulations involve a careful selection of coffee cherries to be processed through immersion in water, then rinsing and cleaning of de-pulped coffee cherries with fresh water from the mountain followed by hand selection of coffee beans.  The process end with a  sun drying in open environment to a water content of about 10%-15%  before they are stable.

Women coffee program in KOPAKAMA local coffee farmers have struggled to earn a living due to economic and social challenges following the genocide. Many of the cooperative’s 247 women members lost their husbands during Genocide against Tutsi in 1994 and subsequently faced particular difficulties in owning land and earning a living and now they formed EJOHEZA which means tomorrow is better Women Association.

The cooperative also purchased a communal farm and coffee trees to allow women without land to join the cooperative and benefit from the initiative. The very first harvest from the communal farm has gone into this Taste the Difference coffee, alongside coffee fully-traceable to small farms owned by women.  This initiative has resulted in a significant increase in Kopakama’s female membership and has given women a greater say in the home and within the organization. The women each work one day a week on the communal land, sharing farming knowledge and childcare responsibilities. They have also formed a women’s association and have a permanent female representative on Kopakama’s Board. The women’s association is responsible for maintaining the communal land and for managing the funds generated by the Women’s Coffee premium.

*KOPAKAMA has obtained several Cup of Excellence awards 2010, 2011, 2012,and this year 2015

Coffee Washing Station coordinates

Latitude: 432614      

Longitude: 9778810

Altitude: from 1700 to 2000 meters

Coffee variety: Arabica

Soil type: Silt-clay-sandy and silty- sandy

Soil pH mean: 5.2

Precipitation range: 1100 to 1300 mm

Temperature range: 18-20 degrees

CWS Owner: KOPAKAMA

Status: Cooperative

Number of farmers: 823

Treatment capacity: 1000 tons

Processing System:  Wet processing

Drying system: sun drying,

Road accessibility: Fair

Water source: mountain natural spring

Environmental protection measures:  Natural seepage

Contact person:
ABIMANA Mathias
Mobile: (+250) 788 522 405