12 oz bag of whole bean coffee
Process: Natural
black tea, hibiscus, raspberry
Passionately caring about the well-being of others and a meticulous attention to detail...Those two traits sum up Agnes Mukamushinja, Felix Hitayezu and the Nova Coffee team. You have to pay attention to the small print when your experience is in running a pharmacy. Pharmacist Felix Hitayezu and his wife Agnes Mukamushinja (nurse) run a pharmacy called "Pharmacie Nova'' in Kigali, and only recently decided to dip their toes into a coffee venture 5 years ago, which they aptly named "Nova Coffee". The result? A coffee program run with as much professionalism as a pharmacy.
Before they started they came up with an official vision and mission statement. The Nova Official vision reads, "At Nova Coffee, we envision to drive community socioeconomic welfare through the enhancement of improved coffee farming practices." The Nova Official mission statement reads: "Being a women-centered washing station, Nova Coffee is committed to developing the neighboring community into specialized coffee farmers that produce the highest quality coffee as well as to enhancing the social cohesion in order to create more jobs and eradicate poverty". Why coffee though? During the genocide Agnes saw most of the coffee trees get destroyed in her village, trees that her father spent his entire 50 year career supporting, as a coffee agronomist and mobilizer. The remaining trees were of low quality and all coffee was being processed as semi-washed. In Agnes's words, "We bought a decrepit old washing station to fix up and try and lift up the village". That village, Bukure, is a beautiful few hour drive north from Kigali, through valleys of rice fields and banana trees. Agnes quickly signed up for every possible resource that the Rwandan government was providing for the coffee sector and set her office up at NAEB (National Agricultural Development Export Board) to make sure she didn't miss any opportunity. She joined Rwanda's IWCA chapter, and eagerly partook in any free trainings that were made available. She quickly targeted the coveted value-added product market, and worked with the non-profit TWIN to launch a domestic roasted coffee brand called "Le Cafe de Mamans". That coffee is grown by 263 women of the local Berwa Cooperative, then roasted in Kigali and sold around Rwanda's tourist market. It's still in the early stages, but the women have been energized by the project and realize that Agnes means business! Due to the rezoning law passed by the Rwandan government in 2017, now only 3 cooperatives deliver their coffee cherries to Nova to get processed. They are the Jyambere Muhinzi Wakawa Cooperative, the Dukorere Kawa Cooperative, and the aforementioned Berwa Cooperative. This special natural processed lot was grown by farmers who live just adjacent to the washing station in the Bukure sector. Some of these farmers are members of the Dukorere Kawa Cooperative but chose to have these cherries be sold to Nova outside of the cooperative. This was an experimental lot in its first year and they hit it out of the park. Like the saying goes, it didn't just happen. Part of being a good manager is surrounding yourself with great talent, and Agnes has brought top notch people into the Nova Team in the past few years. Celeste is their quality control manager with over 20 years of experience, and a big part of the success of this lot. It's rare to see him without his notebook, phone, and moisture reader. Thacien is their full-time, year round agronomist for farmers with a goal of bringing production up to 10 kilos per tree. Theresa manages their daily operations, farmer organization, and gender equity trainings. This list goes on and on. The cherries dry over the course of 18 days for roughly 9 hours a day, while being carefully watched over by Celeste. Suffice it to say, we are thrilled to introduce the US market to this special group and their coffee.
Whole Bean Coffee
[RUH-WAHN-DUH • EN-GO-MAH]
Process: Washed
Pear, Honey, Cashew
Grown in the highly acidic soils of Cyanika, Nyamagabe District at an elevation of 2,058 masl.
Like biting into a fresh pear, this coffee is crisp and sweet. Honey mouthfeel with a cashew note.
Ngoma coffee is from the highland acidic soils of Cyanika, Nyamagabe District in Southern Province is among the best in Rwanda; among the 24 coffees of excellence appeared in the cup of excellence competition organized in 2008 got the second place. This coffee comes from farmers at up to 2058m in altitude and sandy loam soil.
One Acre Fund is a social enterprise that works with millions of smallholder farmers, equipping them with the supplies and training to help them thrive. One Acre Fund puts Farmers First in everything they do, helping farmers grow more food, plant more trees, and earn more money from their harvests.
Whole Bean Coffee
[RUH-WAHN-DUH • DUH-KOON-DAY • KA-WA]
Process: Natural
Blueberry, Walnut, Fudge
Dukunde Kawa produced this fun and funky natural lot in a country where the overwhelming majority of specialty coffee is fully-washed. They also started a coffee school to educate the next generation of Rwandan coffee farmers.
First sips are unmistakably blueberry, which fades into fudge and walnut as it lingers on your tongue.
While it’s not uncommon to find cooperatives in Rwanda, it’s uncommon to find a cooperative like Dukunde Kawa: they have worked tirelessly on behalf of their more than 1,000 farmer-members. They produce excellent coffee whose juicy body and fruitiness are distinctive to Gakenke in Rwanda's Northern Province. They also started a coffee school last year to educate the next generation of Rwandan coffee, and even have a program to donate dairy cows to families in the community—a symbol of respect and source of economic opportunity. One Acre Fund has collaborated with Dukunde Kawa to distribute inputs, shade trees, and coffee seedlings to its farmer members. In this way, Dukunde Kawa’s farmers can continue producing their standout coffee and prosper more from it.
Dukunde Kawa produced this fun and funky natural lot in a country where the overwhelming majority of specialty coffee is fully-washed. This coffee opens with the unmistakable flavors of strawberries, blueberries, and chocolate. The fruity acidity is balanced by a chocolate sweetness. As the taste lingers, the strawberry fades into banana, which melds with the heavy chocolate body into something truly amazing.
One Acre Fund is a social enterprise that works with millions of smallholder farmers, equipping them with the supplies and training to help them thrive. One Acre Fund puts Farmers First in everything they do, helping farmers grow more food, plant more trees, and earn more money from their harvests.
Photos Credit of: Ernest Nshimyimana
Whole Bean Coffee
[RUH-WAHN-DUH • DUH-KOON-DAY • KA-WA]
Process: Washed
Citrus, Pear, Juicy
This washed lot comes from Dukunde Kawa members with farms between 2,000 and 2,200 masl and the region’s signature volcanic loam soil. they also started a coffee school to ecducate the next generation of Rwandan coffee farmers.
Clean, bright and juicy cup with notes of pear and lemon. Smooth and sweet finish.
While it’s not uncommon to find cooperatives in Rwanda, it’s uncommon to find a cooperative like Dukunde Kawa: they have worked tirelessly on behalf of their more than 1,000 farmer-members. They produce excellent coffee whose juicy body and fruitiness are distinctive to Gakenke in Rwanda's Northern Province. They also started a coffee school last year to educate the next generation of Rwandan coffee, and even have a program to donate dairy cows to families in the community—a symbol of respect and source of economic opportunity. One Acre Fund has collaborated with Dukunde Kawa to distribute inputs, shade trees, and coffee seedlings to its farmer members. In this way, Dukunde Kawa’s farmers can continue producing their standout coffee and prosper more from it.
One Acre Fund is a social enterprise that works with millions of smallholder farmers, equipping them with the supplies and training to help them thrive. One Acre Fund puts Farmers First in everything they do, helping farmers grow more food, plant more trees, and earn more money from their harvests.
Photos Credit of: Ernest Nshimyimana
12 oz bag of whole bean coffee
Process: Washed
cherry, caramel, brown sugar
“Kinini” means, literally, ‘this big thing right here’. It is the name of the collaboration of cooperatives seeking to pool their efforts to improve their lots. 85% of the members are women. Kinini is also the name of a washing station and cooperative located in Kinini town, which collects from the neighboring villages of Tumba and Mageragere.