Tropic coffee
TROPIC COFFEE: COFFEE PRODUCER BASED IN RWANDA
Family owned Rwandan coffee co-operative Tropic Coffee have been a Shared Interest customer since 2018, receiving loans to help prefinance their coffee contracts and grow their business.
The business operates in three different regions of Rwanda, each with different altitudes, climate, soil and rainfall. This combination leads to a very high quality Arabica coffee, which is highly sought after.
Creating Opportunities through Coffee
After the devastating Rwandan genocide in 1994, many women were left widowed with children. Tropic Coffee work with 2,767 farmers growing coffee on small, individual blocks of land. More than half of the farmers are women. They believe that by harvesting coffee cherries, the farmers are empowered to improve their incomes, creating more opportunities for themselves and their families.
The Impact of our Finance
With our finance, Tropic Coffee have been able to construct their own coffee washing station, rather than using hired facilities. In 2022, Shared Interest Foundation also began working with the co-operative, launching a project to support 625 coffee farmers to enhance their coffee production and build their resilience to climate change.
The farmers underwent training in Good Agricultural Practices, Climate Smart Agriculture and organic compost production. Following the training, all farmers have transitioned to producing compost collectively in groups, which has not only reduced their production costs, but also improved the quality of their coffee.
As part of this project, a total of 86,050 coffee seedlings and 10,919 shade trees were distributed among the participating farmers. Additionally, farmers received training in agri-business and financial management skills. Following this, Tropic Coffee opened a Savings and Credit Co-operative Organisation (SACCO). Currently, 70% of farmers are saving within the SACCO and Tropic Coffee has set an ambitious goal of reaching 100% participation by the end of the project.
You can read more about our climate resilience projects here.
Tropic Coffee Field Officer, Joseph Niyonkuru, said:
“Since the project started I have seen a change. The farmers have made improvements in good agriculture techniques, how to make fertiliser and how to reduce soil erosion.”
What is Climate Smart Agriculture?
A set of farming methods designed to increase the resilience and productivity of land affected by climate change.
What are Good Agricultural Practices?
A set of standards for sustainable production of crops, which help to maximise yields whilst minimising production costs and environmental impact.
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