Does Congo produce Coffee? Congo Mengano Cooperative Coffee introduction Congo Mongano Cooperative Coffee

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The Muungano Cooperative is located more than three hours south of Goma on a problematic dirt road on the west bank of Lake Kivu. The nearest town is Minova, a ramshackle, bustling village that makes a living selling cassava, fish and "road taxes". Although I don't think we bumped on the rocks and rolled in muddy ditches, my taxes were made good use of, but the trip to Muungano was well worth it.

Founded in 2009, Muungano coop is made up of about 4400 small farmers, nearly half of whom are women. Gender justice was a major focus for members and farmers from different races were also included in the action. The word "Muungano" actually means "unity" in Swahili. When we first visited the team, they were grinding coffee with early 20th century equipment, but they were still able to produce the best Congolese coffee we had ever tasted. Since then, they have installed two new cleaning stations, a new cupping laboratory, and a trained baker and staff cupping. The fruits of their hard work are evident in the sweet, bright, complex coffee they produce every year.

Although coffee producers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo face many challenges, cooperative members are very focused, professional and optimistic. Our friends in Twin, who first worked with cooperatives and did a lot of training with producers, did an amazing job to help growers make the most of the old bourbon coffee trees growing in the area.

Muungano cooperative members are eager to know what they can do to deepen our business relationship and improve the quality of their products. A visit to Muungano is a good reminder of how hard our growers are working to produce their coffee-usually in very limited infrastructure and under very difficult circumstances. Atlas is proud to be the first importer to offer this special coffee in North America. In 2017, Muungano also received organic certification, opening a new door for a sustainable professional coffee market.

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