Lot F814: Rwacof / Nyakabingo

Producer Story:

The trip to Nyakabingo washing station first takes you by car towards its sister station, Kanyege.Then, you must get out and walk the remaining kilometer up the west facing slope of the hill that givesthe station its name. Looking out from the washing station, one can see countless rolling hills continuing as far as the eye can see. Cherry is selectively handpicked by farmers and delivered to Nyakabingo washing station. At intake, the station floats all cherry to remove any low-density cherry. Then, the high-density cherry is hand sorted to remove any visible defects. After intake, cherry is pulped using a disc pulper before being placed in fermentation tanks to dry ferment for 12 to 18 hours. Following fermentation, wet parchment is washed in clean water and placed in thin layers on tables to sundry. Here, it is sifted regularly to ensure even drying. The parchment will be covered during the hottest times of the day and at night to prevent condensation. RWACOF's Farmer Development Program in partnershipwith the London School of Economics (LSE) supports farmers with training in Good Agricultural Practices and access to loans, farm inputs and farm services. A new soil health initiative uses soil analysis data that RWACOF collected to identify farms where soil is too acidic. Lime, along with education about application, is distributed to these farmers to help improve soil quality. Additionally,seedling nurseries provide up to 4 million seedlings per year to help farmers renovate their rootstock. RWACOF also has many projects that are designed to support farmers' overall livelihoods. They focus on gender equality and support several women's cooperatives by helping them access land, seedlings andreach a market for their coffees. They offer trainings on financial literacy and alternative income-generating activities.
The Farmer Hub program built retail shops that buy other crops from farmers and sell them to families and schools at fair prices. These retail shops help promote income diversification by creating a market for othercrops and they supply nutritious foods at competitive prices. The Farmer Hub program also offers loans tofarmers as part of the farm management program.
On the environmental side, RWACOF has worked with partners to help install solar panels at 2 washing stationsthat are off the electrical grid. RWACOF's dry mill already have a 50 kilowatt-per-hour solar panel set upon their roof. They’ve also mapped carbon emissions in their coffee supply chain and are starting projects to half heir emissions per kg of coffee. Two ways they're accomplishing this are by facilitating a transition frominorganic to organic fertilizer and further by improving waste (water and pulp) management at the wet mills. They're also working with Trade in Space to map deforestation in the supply chain so that they can begin to work with farmers to reduce deforestation and improve forested areas in the supply chain.