This marvelous coffee comes to us by the care and skilled hands of Baho Coffee in Rwanda and is imported by our friend Ben at Sundog Trading. This information is courtesy of Sundog:
FUGI AKANYARU HILL
PRODUCER(s): Total within Akanyaru Hill group - 115 smallholders
PROCESSING STATION: Fugi
LOCATION: Ngoma Sector, Nyaruguru District, Southern Province
HARVEST SEASON: April - June
STATION OWNER: Baho Coffee / Emmanuel Rusatira
EXPORTER: Baho Coffee / Emmanuel Rusatira
IMPORTER: Sundog Trading
ALTITUDE of FARMS: 1700 - 1900 masl
VARIETY: Red Bourbon
PROCESS: Washed
AVERAGE FARM SIZE: 0.23 hectares
AVERAGE AGE of TREES: 22 years old
EXPECTED VOLUME per tree: 2.9 kg
EXPECTED HARVEST VOLUME TOTAL per farm: 1,350 kg
* Additional in-depth information on Baho Coffee, Sundog Trading, and the Rwandese coffee sector, can be found throughout our website ~ sundogtrading.co
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PRICE TRANSPARENCY
- 2023 Rwanda national farmgate price for cherry - 410 rwf/kg
- 2023 Baho farmgate price paid for cherry - 570 rwf/kg + 30 rwf/kg second payment
- 2023 FOT Kigali price paid to Baho Coffee - 3.55 usd/lb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FUGI STATION
Located in the Southern Province of Rwanda, Fugi is nestled between the Nyungwe National Forest and the border of Burundi. It’s quickly becoming a favorite of ours in the Baho network, producing consistently excellent washed and natural lots. Furthermore, it’s transformed into what Emmanuel has called Baho’s hub for innovation. Nearly 50% of Fugi’s production was alternatively (honey, natural, or experimental) processed during the past two seasons. Fugi has additionally served as homebase for numerous pilot projects - like the first women producer group, a parabolic drying structure, and a small composting facility producing organic fertilizers.
Fugi was built in 2013, but it was purchased by Emmanuel in 2016. Since then, he’s dedicated this station to solely producing specialty grade coffee. Fugi was Emmanuel’s very first station; and thus, it’s a key component of the foundation upon which Baho Coffee was built. It’s the third smallest station in the Baho collection, purchasing cherry from around 950 smallholder farmers and producing 900 bags of exportable specialty grade coffee each year.
As is standard practice for Baho-owned stations - training, inputs , and substantial contributions towards health insurance premiums are provided for all farmers delivering. Furthermore, each station has an agronomist on site that organizes training sessions focused on topics such as coffee plant care (planting, fertilizing, pruning, harvesting, etc), environmental protection, and importance of our traceability efforts. Various inputs like fertilizers and new coffee seedlings are provided free of cost to all farmers. Baho is involved a step further here as well - helping farmers with transportation to gather materials and lending tools/equipment when necessary.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AKANYARU HILL
Emmanuel presented to us a handful of lots in 2019 that were traced back to communities surrounding specific hills. This initiative immediately sparked our interest and kickstarted our discussions on how we could expand and deepen this type of traceability. As buyers, it’s always exciting to find more information about where coffee is coming from; but additionally, Emmanuel made it very clear that it was helpful to Baho and their producer network as well. It created the opportunity to directly support producers and hopefully motivate them to continue in specialty.
The Akanyaru Hill lot is a part of Baho’s ongoing appellation project surrounding the Fugi Station. They’re focusing on smaller lot separations by processing groups of farmers’ coffee together based on the highest quality growing areas. The hills are often chosen simply based on altitude, which tends to correlate to a distinct vibrancy and saturation of flavor. The bulk of farms surrounding Akanyaru Hill sit right around the 1800 masl mark.
Emmanuel is particularly excited about the potential of this area producing a unique flavor profile, as it’s in a more remote location deep in the Southern Province and nearly touching the border of Burundi. Akanyaru Hill is a new group as of the 2022 season. Until last year, most farmers in this area were producing semi washed coffee and selling wet parchment to middle men that would pass it along to a nearby station. Baho has helped organize the Akanyaru group and arranged harvesting and pick up days to assist with transportation to the Fugi station.
Emmanuel shares about the hills project:
Since these are new group that are forming around our cws [coffee washing station], based on on what we think might be potential or unique in the zone, we are want make this model mutual benefit where farmers commit to what we are training them, commit to long and honest / loyal relationship with Baho and of course by focusing on both coffee quality and quantity. Then at the other side, Baho have responsibility of developing them, buying their cherries, marketing their coffee with full traceability and at the end, paying them highest possible price that will make them motivated and happy to grow coffee. we strongly believe that our strength is based on happy farmers that we work with.
Emmanuel shares about Akanyaru Hill:
Akanyaru Hill is among coffee potential hill in Nyaruguru district with an altitude of 1800m. Baho Coffee helped them to form a group that they will harvest their cherry at an agreed time for helping us in transportation. We have a very serious plan with the farmers of Akanyaru.
The Akanyaru Hill farmers have been taught about coffee and the importance of planting trees that provide shade in coffee, some of them mixed fruit trees such as papaya and tomato trees, these fruits trees bringing the shade in coffee plantations and generate money. The farmers of Akanyaru Hill received training on how to care on their coffee plantation and how they can produce coffee without damaging the environment because in Baho Coffee we have to be friend with the environment to avoid climate change.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PROCESSING
The initial steps for each process are the same: First, a day of intensive sorting at the cherry stage, under complete shade, to ensure only the ripest are chosen and any visible defects are removed. Step two is multiple rounds of floating - filling a large container with cherries and water, discarding the less dense cherries that float to the top of the tank. The densest coffees (sinkers) are reserved to be processed as the higher grade lots, and the less dense coffees (floaters) are mixed in with the rejected cherries from the initial sorting to be processed as lower grade lots.
Cherries are depulped, and the wet parchment undergoes an 12 hour wet fermentation before being pushed through the grading channels. Here the coffee is rigorously washed to remove any remaining mucilage and separated by density - with the highest density lots being reserved for our selections. The coffee is then submerged underwater and soaked for a final 8 - 10 hour period; this step is thought to both assist in ensuring all mucilage is removed and also homogenize moisture throughout the seeds for a more even drying process.
The drying protocol begins by moving coffee onto shaded beds for 12 - 72 hours. This is a unique step in Rwanda, called skin drying, that has two distinct benefits. First, it sets the trajectory for the entire drying phase by initially beginning very gently and slowly under complete shade. Secondly, it allows ample time for intensive sorting while the parchment is still wet - this is important because certain defects (seeds bitten by Antestia in particular, thought to cause the potato defect) can be seen much more easily when the parchment is wet.
The parchment is finally moved into a parabolic drying structure that was built at Fugi during the 2020 season. Within this greenhouse, coffees are completely protected from rain and harsh, direct sunlight. Parchment is turned frequently, and weather conditions are closely monitored throughout the day. If certain temperature thresholds are exceeded, workers will focus on turning coffee more frequently or cover the beds with mesh netting. When the moisture content reaches the target of 10.5 - 11%, the drying phase is considered complete. The parchment is bagged and stored in a dry warehouse at Fugi until time for milling. Total drying time for this lot was 25 - 30 days.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NAMES of FARMERS CONTRIBUTING
UWIZEYIMANA FRANCOIS NGEZAHAYO PASCAL
MUKASHYAKA JACQUELINE MBONIGABA JEAN
GASHAGAZA WENSESLAS UTAZIRUBANDA INNOCENT
TUGIRWENAYO JACQUELINE NYABYENDA ATHANASE
NSAGUYE CELESTIN KAMANZI INNOCENT
NTAWUHIGANAYO AUGUSTIN BIZIYAREMYE BERTIN
CELESTIN NYIRIMANA ERIC SINZABABANZA
SINDIHEBA VINCENT SIBOMANA CELESTIN
BYEMERINTWALI CELESTIN RURAHEMUZA JEAN
NZARAMBA ATAHANSE NZABONIMANA FAUSTIN
NYIRAMINANI JOSELYNE NYIRAMANZI ALOYSIE
NYECUMI INNOCENT ZACHARIE NYANDWI
NYANDWI DATIVA AMBROISE NYANDWI
NYABYENDA JEAN AUGUSTIN NYABENDA
NTANYUNGU PROTAIS NSENGAMAHORO FELECIEN
NSANZUMUHIRE BERNARD NKUSI BENOIT
JEAN NIZIGAMA NIKUZE THARCINNE
NDARIFASHE CELESTIN NDAHIMANA INNOCENT
MUNYAMBIBI DANIEL MUKANGANGO VERONIQUE
MISAGO FAUSTIN MINANI JEAN PIERRE
MBONABUCYA ALBERT KAYOBERA VINCENT
KARORERO ALFRED KARENZO ATHANASE
IRYAMUKURU CLAUDE IRYAMUKURU ALEXANDRE
HAKORIMANA BOSCO HAKIZAMUNGU CELESTIN
DUSABEMARIYA PATRICIE NDUWAYO ALEXIS
BUCUMI PASCAL BUCUMI FAUSTIN
CÉLÉSTIN BUCUMI BIZUMUREMYI ANASTASE
BIZIYAREMYE DAVID BATURURIMI VINCENT
BIZIMUNGU BONAVENTURE JEAN HAKIZIMANA
HATEGEKIMANA VALENTIN KAYOBERA EMMANUEL
MANIRAHO ANDRE MARTIN MINANI
MUKABIRORI ODETTE EVARISTE NGARUKIYE
NIYIGENA CLARISSE CLAUDE NSABIMANA
NYIRABASHYITSI BEATRICE BEATRICE NYIRAMINANI
EMMANUEL RUDASHIRIKAKA PIERRE SIBOMANA
SIBORUREMA INNOCENT TUYIZERE JEAN MARIE
BAPFAMUKANWA JEAN EVARISTE HATUNGIMANA
NTURANYENABO JEAN CLAUDE BARAVUGA ALEXANDRE
EVARISTE KAYIRERA JACQUELINE NYIRATABARO
URAYENEZA CLEMENTINE NYIRANZEYIMANA THERESE
COSTASIE MUKAMUZIMA JEAN RURAHEMUZA
JEAN DE DIEU HITIYAREMYE FAUSTIN BIZIMANA
UWIZEYIMANA CELESTIN SIBOMANA ELISSA
SANDRINE UMUHIRE MUNYANGAJU APHRODICE
VALENS KAYIGAMBA FAUSTIN SIBOMANA
EMMANUEL BAZARAMBA BIZUMUREMYI INNOCENT
ANDRE HABIMANA THEONESTE NTEZIRYAYO
STANISLAS NAMBAZIMANA JEAN PIERRE MINANI
EVARISTE NIZIGIYIMANA THACIENNE MUKAMABANO
STEPHANIE NGEZAHAYO JÉREMIE MPORAYONZI
BRIGITTE MUKAMURENZI MINANI ABOUBAKAR
PATRICE NKUNDABAGENZI ALEXANDRE RYAMUKURU
MUKAREMERA DELPHINE MUKABIRORI ODETTE
FRANCINE NGEZENDORE JEAN DE DIEU MINANI
CLAUDINE NYIRANSHUMBUSHA UHAWENAYO CLOTHILDE
JOSEPH NAHAYO BEATHA NYABYENDA
IRADUKUNDA BOSCO CECILE NYIRAHABIMANA
CELESTIN NYIRIMANA
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ADDITIONAL PAYMENTS
The Rwanda National Agricultural Export Board (NAEB) sets a nationally mandated farmgate price for cherry each year, with the goal of reducing predatory buying practices. This has undoubtedly increased wages for the majority of farmers across the country, but it hinders some station owners by also creating a price ceiling in an attempt to establish market parity. Emmanuel specifically experienced crossing this line in 2018, when he received a letter from the government demanding that he lower prices or else be fined. We’ve learned over the past few years that getting more money into the hands of farmers isn’t quite as simple as raising cherry prices at the station.
Baho has adopted a second payment system as a workaround to this issue. Giving farmers additional compensation later in the year means that you can go off the official books. We’re hoping to provide more consistency to this system by setting aside specific amounts of money each season to pay Baho’s producer partners more and more. The increased level of traceability that Baho has been able to achieve is making this process much easier, as we can now begin with dedicated small groups to implement the program. We’ve started small as we explore the best methods of dispersing payments like this fairly, but we hope to scale everything up as we grow together in the future and continue to explore Rwandese farmers’ costs of living.
We witnessed a unique scenario during the past few seasons where increased market demand has led to a countrywide spike in prices and extreme competition amongst stations to collect cherries. To fulfill their contracts, commodity focused stations have been paying at levels above the national average for any quality level. This means Baho has had to continuously (a) increase prices as high as possible and (b) start accepting more of a variety of cherry ripeness levels. It’s become commonplace that a much higher percentage of cherry than usual - up to 30% in some cases - must be sorted out to achieve their ripeness standards. He’s seen this put a massive strain on the workforce at washing stations; and because of these factors, all Baho has started incorporating bonuses at the end of the season for their station management staff.
These issues are continuously evolving and are accompanied by equally shapeshifting solutions. The answers are never one size fits all; and thus, we will always work closely with Emmanuel to strengthen our partnership and support in the specific areas where we’re most needed at any given time. In addition to helping guarantee that second payments are a standardized occurrence for all groups we purchase from, we’re exploring specific projects to allocate money towards in future seasons. Stay tuned! And please reach out if getting directly involved on this level is ever of interest to you!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE POTATO DEFECT
This particular defect is known to be a natural occurrence in many central African coffees, particularly those from Rwanda. First off - surprise, it actually has nothing to do with the root vegetable! The name was acquired because coffee with this defect smells and tastes almost identically to raw potatoes. The cause of potato defect has long been a mystery for both scientists and the coffee industry as a whole; however, people are slowly coming to a consensus - though, it's admittedly still a bit confusing. The most cited theory attributes the potato flavor to a specific chemical in the pyrazine family. This chemical is produced by the plant as a byproduct of a unique airborne bacteria entering the seed; and most commonly, the seed is exposed because of a specific bug - Antestiopsis orbitalis (aka. Antestia) - that punctures the skin of the fruit.
Once upon a time, it was so widespread that specialty coffee buyers would never have considered purchasing coffees from this area. Over the past decade, however, huge strides have been made by research institutes and coffee producers alike to reduce the occurrence. Though we may never be able to confirm that each lot is completely free of the defect, meticulous sorting and processing has certainly minimized the frequency so that it is very rare. Baho Coffee, in particular, implements multiple rounds of hand sorting at the cherry stage, during the drying period, and immediately prior to export (coupled with additional use of an optical color sorting machine). The working theory is that if you can remove nearly 100% of all visible defects, then you will have removed nearly 100% of all instances of the potato defect as well.
