Despite the tragedies of genocide and civil war which shook the world in 1994, Rwanda is an incredibly beautiful and culturally rich nation which also produces exceptionally good coffee. In Rwanda coffee has brought hope for a better future since those dark days and the country is now rightly heralded as a top producer of fine specialty coffee.

Rwanda is blessed with ideal coffee growing conditions that include high altitude, regular rainfall, volcanic soils with good organic structure and an abundance of Bourbon coffee trees.

The vast majority of Rwandan coffee is produced by smallholders of which there are thought to be around half a million with parcels of land often not much larger than just one hectare per family. Coffee is grown in most parts of the country, with particularly large concentrations along Lake Kivu and in the southern province. Rwandan smallholders organise themselves into cooperatives and share the services of centralised wet-mills – or washing stations as they are known locally.

The picturesque Huye district has a hilly landscape from east to west, but moving west and northwest it will transform into a steep, mountainous area. With high altitudes, regular rainfall and mineral-rich volcanic soils, Rwanda is blessed with ideal conditions for growing coffee. The most common botanical variety of arabica is bourbon.

The Republic of Rwanda, once known as Rwanda, is located in the central part of Africa, just below the equator. It is one of the smallest African countries. Due to its location in the middle of the continent it has no access to the ocean. It neighbors Tanzania, Burundi, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Rwanda has three official languages: Rwanda, English and French. The currency is the Rwandan Franc (RWF) and one zloty (1 PLN) can be exchanged for 220 francs.

Rwanda has a very sad history, in 1994 extremists from the Hutu tribe murdered nearly one million people from the Tutsi tribe in 100 days. This completely changed the ethnic structure of the country, currently 82% of the population are descendants of Hutu and Tutsi, only 9.6%, and the indigenous people – Pygmies TWA is only 1.8% of the population.

Rwanda, like most African countries has a colonial history, in addition to the Belgians, this region was also ruled by the Germans. The Europeans put emphasis on the Christianization of their regions, as a result of which more than 93% of the inhabitants of Rwanda are followers of Christ, in various denominations.

The country has a constitution enacted in 2003, and laws are established regarding the head of state and government, as well as their terms of office. The president is elected by universal suffrage for 7 years, and the bicameral parliament consists of a senate (for 8 years) and a chamber of deputies for 5 years.

In Rwanda, coffee is grown almost throughout the country, with a few exceptions, such as the northeastern areas. The most famous regions for coffee cultivation are Gakenke, Nyamagabe and Huye. The country ranks only 30th in the world in terms of the amount of coffee produced, with a production of about 18,000 tons. The most common botanical variety of Arabica is red bourbon.

Cooperatives of small growers, in the southern part of Huye on the hillsides among the undulating hills near the picturesque Lake Kivu put all their effort and knowledge into the coffee cherries, which are hand-picked from March to May each year. The vast majority of Rwandan coffee is produced by small farmers, of which there are about half a million, with roughly a one-hectare plot per farmer.