Description
About Mbilima
About Mbilima
The DUKUNDE KAWA cooperative, is a coffee growers' cooperative, founded in 2003, which cultivates high quality coffee in the soil located between 1800 - 2200 meters above sea level in Northern Rwanda, in the village of Baliza, Ruli sector of Gakenke district. Currently, Dukundekawa has 1193 coffee farmers, which allows it to produce up to 12 containers of green coffee per year.
The Dukunde Kawa cooperative, known as MUSASA, is renowned for its high quality coffee, grown on rich volcanic soil in rolling hills at an altitude of 1800 to 2200 meters above sea level where gorillas live. Musasa coffee has won the Cup of Excellence 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018 in a row before independent panels at different locations. The cooperative has the following certifications: Organic; Fairtrade; Rain Forest Alliance; UTZ and C.A.F.E. Practices.
"Dukunde Kawa" means "Those who love coffee". The Dukunde Kawa cooperative, founded in 2003 in the Northern Province of Rwanda near the village of Musasa, now has almost 2000 producer members.
Most of them are very small producers with an average of 250 or 300 coffee trees each. Dukunde coop allows them to have their cherries processed in a central location and their remuneration has almost doubled since the creation of the cooperative. The cooperative has 4 washing stations and the level of precision with which they carry out the preparation methods is impressive.
The cherries are all harvested by hand, pulped the same day and sorted into 3 grades. The cooperative has also developed societal programmes to help grower families pay for their children's school and medical expenses.
Created in 2003, the Dukunde Kawa cooperative now has nearly 2000 farmers, 80% of whom are women. Its method of agriculture is organic and human-oriented, which has earned it fair trade and organic certifications. Almost 2/3 of the coffees harvested by the cooperative are harvested by women. This is why they have joined together to learn how to improve the quality of the coffee. These groups also work on improving self-confidence and on the place of women in the community. In addition, the association contributes to school fees for the producers' children and to health care. The cooperative encourages the women to find additional sources of income to be more independent, such as sewing. The quality of their work has enabled them to earn a better income and invest in their cooperative to improve it. We work with the Dukunde kawa cooperative because we share their philosophy of constantly improving quality and better remuneration for producers.
