DR Congo Women’s Coffee Project

Our DR Congo Women’s Coffee Project comes from the women coffee producers of Idjwi Island who are members of the cooperative Rebuild Women’s Hope (RWH). RWH was founded in 2013 by Marcelline Budza with the goals of fighting the inequalities that women in agriculture face and supporting the health and empowerment of women and girls. The coop helps women take charge of their lives through entrepreneurship and self-reliance. It’s the group’s mission “to give women back their voice by placing them at the center of all integral development, in particular, economic empowerment and autonomy. They believe that income controlled by women has a significant impact on the life of the family, including the development and wellbeing of the community.”

Democratic Republic of the Congo (also known as DRC, but not to be confused with the neighboring Republic of the Congo) is an interesting origin, just barely on the radar of specialty coffee. Coffee was introduced by European colonists, who owned and operated large plantations using local labor to tend to the fields. A history not unlike that of Kenya, Tanzania, and other colonized African nations. When the DRC achieved independence from Belgium in 1960, the land was broken up in redistribution schemes, with each new farmer getting a very small plot of land.

Coffee is grown in most of the country, spread throughout its seven provinces, and is a significant cash crop, though most of what is grown and exported are either full Robusta or not specialty-quality. Investment projects and direct-sourcing projects are contributing to a general increase in profile and availability of better coffees, however, and the next few years look very hopeful for Congolese coffees.

Fully washed coffee means that the coffee “cherries” are delivered to the washing stations the day they are harvested. There they are depulped and fermented in open-air tiled, concrete tanks and later flushed out with water and passing through a water channel to remove all mucilage on the coffee (in parchment). From there, the coffee is moved to drying beds (screens or netting) to dry and later prepped for further processing.

Producers: Cooperative of Rebuild Women’s Hope
Farm: Idjwi Island (women coffee producers)
Region: Lake Kivu
Altitude: 1500-2000 masl (meters above sea level)
Varieties: Bourbon, Caturra, Catuai
Process: Fully Washed
Roast: Medium Light
Description: Red wine, plum and dried black tea flavors with tangy acidity and mellow brown sugary sweetness.