Rwanda | Fuji Ikizere

Producers: 115 Women Smallholders
Region: Nyaruguru District, Southern Province
Process: Washed
Elevation: 1700-2000masl
Varietal: Red Bourbon
Notes: Clementine, Dark Honey, Clove
Roast: Light-Medium
Importer: Sundog Trading
Exporter: Baho Coffee

Fuji Station

Located in the Southern Province of Rwanda, Fugi is nestled between the Nyungwe National Forest and the border of Burundi. It quickly became established as a favorite of Sundog's in the Baho network, producing consistently excellent washed, natural, and experimentally processed lots.  In recent years, Fugi has transformed into what Emmanuel has called Baho’s hub for innovation - with now over 50% of Fugi’s production dedicated to honey, natural, and anaerobic style processing. Fugi has additionally served as homebase for numerous pilot projects - like the first women producer group, a parabolic drying structure, and a small composting facility producing organic fertilizers.

Ikizere Women

Meaning confidence in Kinyarwanda, Ikizere is the name chosen by this original group of women at the Fugi station to represent Baho’s flagship initiative of traceable lot separations.  It’s a project that they’re incredibly thrilled to be able to support and offer to the North American market, now for the fourth consecutive season.  The group is composed of widowed women and single mothers who share the unique challenges of navigating traditionally patriarchal systems - both the Rwandese society as a whole and more specifically coffee production.  Through supporting the Ikizere project, we hope to promote these powerful women thriving in their communities and share a platform upon which their voices can be internationally heard.

From Baho Coffee:

The relationship between Ikizere Women and BAHO Coffee Co. Ltd is based on humanity, social development activities and trying to change and improve living style of this group. We have so far started by training them about coffee growing, good agricultural practices, and coffee quality handling. It is a group with high level of understanding, commitment, and determination. We are developing them to make their group one of the well known women group for high coffee quality and model coffee farms. We are doing many activities with them such as training on coffee agronomy, social responsibility , access to finance with focus on saving groups, etc. We do pay them the highest cherry price every season and we make sure they are the happiest farmers not because they are women, not because they are single mothers responsible of families, but mainly because their high commitment to deliver quality coffee to our washing station. We pay them annually health insurance 100%, we give them short term loans for family development, we gave them clean drinking water line, and we have more many ideas collected from them and we will keep advocating and supporting to significantly change their lives.