About Rwanda Bwenda, the washing station that made these beans

187 km southwest of Kigali, through slopes and rice fields to the Land of a Thousand Hills, lies the Bwenda washing station. Located northwest of Butare in the Kbumbwe sector, Bwenda covers a small area of about 3 hectares. Founded by RTC in 2019, Bwenda is named after the plot of land it sits on. Since RTC took over the station, it has been managed by Eric, who lives nearby in Huwe.

The station employs 3 full-time workers, including Eric, and during the harvest, it provides seasonal work for about 60 casual laborers. Women make up around 85% of the workforce, as they are better and more precise in coffee processing than men.

The station receives coffee cherries from around 1,600 small farmers in the surrounding area. Farm sizes range from as few as 100 trees to 7,000 trees (about 3 hectares), and the farms are located between 0.5 km and 4 km away. To enable farmers to deliver cherries despite difficult access to the station from the farms, the station provides collection points and collectors. Collectors check and weigh the cherry deliveries and pay the farmers immediately. In addition, the station offers farmers organic EM2 compost, made from recycled cherry pulp with specified animal manure.