One of the things that makes Rwanda unique among coffee-producing countries is that the majority of people growing and processing coffee there are women. This anomalous and heartening fact extends beyond this one industry – for example, nearly two-thirds of Rwanda’s parliamentary seats and 52% of cabinet positions are held by women.
We’ve been sourcing and offering coffees from Rwanda since 2009, and we’re lucky to have built meaningful connections and relationships with some extraordinary women there. Many of these women experienced unthinkable loss and trauma during the country’s 1994 genocide, and have worked tirelessly to rebuild their lives, and those of their families and communities, through their work in coffee.
In the years since we began sourcing coffees from Rwanda, some of the women we know there have created women-led producing groups – collectives of women growers and producers who share resources and support, and process and market their coffees as special, differentiated lots. Rambagirakawa is one such women’s group. Founded in 2012 in Rwanda’s North, the group is comprised of 304 women growers who are all part of the larger Dukunde Kawa cooperative.
