Market Lane – Buf Cafe and Dukunde Kawa, Rwanda

Bean Market’s December Christmas subscription featured Dukunde Kawa Cooperative and Buf Cafe, from Market Lane Coffee. These coffees were directly sourced.

MURAHO RWANDA! (Hello Rwanda!)

For Market Lane, Rwanda is a country that is close to their hearts. Specialty coffee has been the main driver of economic growth in Rwanda since the genocide in 1994.

Market Lane has been involved with this development, through a meaningful & mutual six years of relationship with Buf Cafe and the Dukunde Kawa cooperative.

Buf Cafe is company founded by Epiphanie. Epiphanie is a fierce, determined and visionary leader who in 1994, lost her husband, a child and much of her extended family in the 1994 genocide. She was faced with the responsibility to raise her seven remaining children, and with a limited education and financial resources, she saw the potential of the coffee trees her husband left behind.

In 2000, she successfully received a loan from the Rwandan Development Bank to invest in improving the quality of her coffee (so she could receive better prices). She established Buf Cafe, and went on to engage and train local farmers, and then went on to also encourage them to produce better coffee (thus receive higher prices).

In 2003, she received credit to build the Nyarusiza washing station, and then in 2007 she was able to open the Remera washing station.

Today, she buys coffee cherries from 7000 coffee farmers, making her the largest employer in her community. Some of these farmers also work at her washing stations where they receive premium wages.

Buf Cafe’s Remera washing station is where the Muduha farmers (featured filter roast) process their coffee cherries.

Dukunde Kawa is a cooperative born from two farmer associations with an initial base of 300, it has now grown to 1400+ members.

With the assistance of the Rwandan government and the support of the PEARL Project, Dukunde Kawa was able to establish 3 stations to process coffee.

Ruli in 2003, Mbilima in 2005 (featured espresso roast), and Nkara in 2007. All the members of the Dukunde Kawa Cooperative are small-scale farmers and in contributing their harvests, they are able to reach large enough quantities to export.

Today, farmers who work with Dukunde Kawa have seen their incomes more than double. See here for an interview with Jenni Bryant about her recent visit to the Dukunde Kawa Cooperative.

Bean Market is super excited to work with Market Lane and celebrate the amazing meaningful work they do in Rwanda. Our final shipment, closing December 7th and shipping December 9th is Market Lane’s Muduha (filter roast) and Mbilima (espresso roast).

FILTER ROAST (Plunger/French press, Pour over, Aeropress)

Farmer group: Muduha (a small farmer group of 40)

Washing station: Remera (Buf Cafe)

Region: Rushashi District, Rwanda

Variety: Red Bourbon

Tasting notes: Caramel & fresh peach, with a delicate silky mouthfeel

ESPRESSO ROAST (Stovetop/Moka pot, Espresso machine)

Washing station: Mbilima (Dukunde Kawa co-operative)

Region: Rushashi District, Rwanda

Variety: Red Bourbon

Tasting notes: Brown sugar, lemon and tangerine.