Geography and climate of coffee bean production process in Rwanda

Production process editor

coffee cherries

coffee cherries

The peak harvest season for Rwandan coffee is during the main rainy season, from March to the end of May. During harvest season, farmers spend most of their day picking coffee by hand. In the afternoon, farmers carry coffee nuts in traditional baskets woven from banana leaves to washing stations hours away. Artisans hand-pick the best coffee cherries with a deep red hue and return the rest to farmers for sale at low prices in markets outside the Malaba processing zone. The mechanic pays the farmer $0.10 per kilo. Every fortnight the guild deposited the reward into the farmer's bank account.

The technician in the processing tank will immediately clean the process, because delay will cause the sugar coating of the coffee beans to ferment, ruining the taste of the coffee. The beans are first dropped into a deep sink, where the best cherries sink to the bottom and pass through a machine that removes the skin. The floating coffee cherries are removed by technicians, processed in the same way and sold by cooperatives at lower prices on the domestic market. The beans pass through three co-op peeling and sorting machines, which remove the outer skin and sugary coating, and then pass the beans individually through vibrating filters. The filter separates the highest quality A beans from those classified as B; the two grades are carried down the hill separately in 1% gradient waterways. The process of transportation further classifies the coffee beans of each quality. About fifteen tanks at the bottom of the channel can catch different kinds of coffee beans. Coffee beans remain in water for two days and 15-20 hours for grade A and B beans respectively, allowing them to ferment slightly and convert residual sugars without seriously damaging the taste.

After washing the beans several times to completely remove the remaining skin and sugary coating, the technician places the beans in a shaded rack to air dry. Co-op employees regularly flip the beans, while technicians continue to search for and pick out poor quality beans. The two-week drying process takes place in the sun (preparing mulch in case of rain) and constantly turning the beans. This step reduces the water content of coffee beans from 40% to 12%.

The technician then transports the beans to a technical center near Cheez. Some machines installed in warehouses on hills remove the horny skin from coffee beans. The coffee beans are sent to a nearby institute for final quality control-manual sorting, performed by several experienced women. After bagging and labeling according to their quality, coffee beans can be stored in warehouses pending marketing

Geography and Climate Edit

Maraba coffee is grown in southern Rwanda, about 12 km (7 mi) from Butare and 150 km (93 mi) from the capital, Gigali. The project began in the Malaba area of Butare province, but was succeeded by local government organizations in 2006, and the area is now part of the Huye region of Southern province. Due to its proximity to the Great Rift Valley and the Nunwe Forest Mountains, this zone has many slopes, steep terrain and fertile volcanic soil. Coffee is grown at elevations of 1700 to 2100 meters (5,577 - 6,889 feet), usually on steep hillsides. The zone also has an average annual rainfall of 115 centimetres (45 inches). Most of this comes from the rainy season between March and May, which is also the main coffee harvest season. Temperatures at higher altitudes are slightly lower, averaging about 20°C (68°F), with small seasonal variations.