Harvest Update from Rwanda

Higher Input Costs

“We’re seeing much higher prices than we’ve seen in the previous few years,” Harrison says. Outright cherry prices and FOB differentials (the price exporters pay when the coffee is loaded onto the ship) are historically high. That’s due to a confluence of factors, Harrison explains. “There was an intense C market spike near the beginning of the harvest season, and the farmgate price is very sensitive to that.”

Higher prices this year are also due to higher input costs. “All coffee exporters have to pay a mandatory fee, and one of them is the fertilizer cost. This fee has risen almost 4-fold due to the increase in the price of fertilizer by 40% year-on-year,” says Mona Philippon, Specialty Supply Chain Officer for RWACOF. Higher fertilizer prices are partially caused by higher oil prices since oil is used both to create and transport fertilizer.

In order to address higher fertilizer costs (and the environmental downsides of chemical fertilizers), we’re trialing a new vermiculture fertilizer project. Vermiculture uses worms to transform coffee pulp into organic fertilizer. We’re trialing vermiculture on a small scale at several washing stations. “Once we’ve produced some fertilizer, we’ll evaluate its quality and determine whether to expand the project,” Mona explains.

Larger Volume

We’re also expecting a larger harvest than the previous two years. This is due mainly to the cyclical nature of Rwanda’s harvest cycle. The two previous harvests have been smaller, and this year, the trees are producing much more cherry. At the same time, there are a few districts where the season is starting to slow down earlier than usual.

“The reason for the cycle is that once a tree has produced a lot of cherry one year, it’s a bit exhausted the following year and produces a smaller crop,” Mona says. “It’s also due to the rain patterns: they really affect production. Even if the trees are producing a lot of green cherry, if the rain doesn’t come at the right time, or if it brings too much rain and not enough sun, the trees might not get the care they need to ripen.” Another factor is the older rootstock, “a lot of the trees are as old as the arrival of coffee in Rwanda, the 1960s basically, and so you have a lot of trees with old roots. They don’t capture the nutrients in the soil as well nor feed the tree really well.” RWACOF is working towards fostering renovation in coffee growing areas, but it’s a slow process.

Quality Expectations

It’s a bit early to weigh in on the quality of the specialty crop, but Mona is hopeful. “We’re looking forward to cupping specialty lots and assessing their quality. However, high commercial lots are scoring well, which is encouraging for the quality of the specialty crop.”

“Right now, we’re cupping lots for our Isimbi Sucafina Originals. There are plenty of options to meet the profile needs of this blend, and we can get any volume needed,” says Emmanuel Sebazungu, Quality Manager at RWACOF.

The beginning and end of the season are typically when less uniformly ripe cherry is harvested, so that’s why commercial coffee is ready first. “The highest quality cherry is harvested and processed during peak season, which is about now,” Mona says. “To add to that, Natural, Anaerobic and Honey processing is typically only done mid-season, since you need the highest quality cherry for these methods. We are producing about 2 containers of Natural, 1 container of Honey process and 150 bags of Pulped Anaerobic this year,” Mona says.

Like in previous years, we plan to distribute quality premiums to contributing farmers directly into their bank accounts. Our farmer bankability project began in 2019 and has reached an astounding number of farmers. “In total, we’ve helped farmers open 14,000 bank accounts through our washing stations and they’re using these accounts to save money, receive second payments and access financing,” Mona says.

The Future of Coffee Farming in Rwanda

“Low revenue and aging farmers are two of the biggest challenges facing coffee production in Rwanda today,” Mona says. This year bodes well for Rwandan coffee production since higher prices are reaching farmers and incentivizing younger people to enter coffee production.

Increased prices also mean that more farmers will be able to invest in annual farm maintenance and in planting more trees. “When farmers receive higher prices, we typically see more investment in farm maintenance and improvement,” Mona says.

To help farmers access higher prices and to honor the group’s long term sustainability strategy, RWACOF provides support with getting certified. “RWACOF offers the following certifications to-date: RFA, 4C and Fairtrade certified. We also completed the 3-year process to achieve Organic certification for 4 of our washing stations,” says Celine Niwemugeni, Specialty Supply Chain Regional Officer for RWACOF. Celine is in charge of managing certifications for RWACOF’s washing stations and overseeing station managers. “Farmers are happy with the Organic certification because it gives them access to a new market and guarantees them a premium of 30 US Cents/lb. We’re certifying farmers at no cost to them so that’s an additional financial win for them,” Celine says. Organic certification is currently available at Musasa, Nzahaha, Mashesha and Rwinyoni stations.

RWACOF is involved in a number of sustainability projects that are impacting coffee-producing communities and, in the long-term, working towards more consistent livelihood opportunities for farmers. For roasters interested in getting involved in their supply chain, the RWACOF team is working on a catalog that details all our sustainability projects in Rwanda to make it easy for roasters to choose the best place for them to get involved.

All in all, this year’s harvest is a good one for Rwanda and we’re excited to start sampling coffees and scheduling shipments soon. Shipments are projected to begin in June for commercial, high commercial and Specialty Fully washed coffees and in early August for Specialty Natural, Honey and Anaerobic lots. Get in touch with your trader to sample, book and learn more.