Feature Filter: Cyesha (Natural) | Rwanda

About Cyesha and Muraho Trading Co:

Cyesha (read Che-sha) is a washing station located on the shores of Lake Kivu in the Nyamasheke District. It is owned and operated by Muraho Trading- our key export partner in Rwanda. Muraho purchased Cyesha as an existing station in a rundown state and fully modernised it. Now boasting a pilot water treatment and composting system designed to not only purify water used in processing but also compost coffee pulp turning it into organic manure distributed to the farmer families supplying the station. Overseen by an experienced manager Joseph, the station purchases cherry from 470 local growers and produces washed, honeys and natural lots. This stunning natural from Cyesha shines with sweet tropical fruit and juicy acidity.

Cyesha natural processing:

All cherry is hand-sorted before floating, when under ripe or damaged cherry is removed.

Once the cherry is sorted and cleaned, it is ready to be dried. The cherries are laid out evenly across raised beds, providing consistent airflow, and height, to prevent moisture and animals coming into contact with the cherry.

The cherry is dried for 50 days, turned constantly when the sun is high and covered during the night. The dried fruit encasing the beans is removed, processed at the dry mill to the required exportation standards, and the coffee beans are ready to be organised for packing.

All of Muraho’s coffee is consolidated at their central hub and washing station Rugali, based near Lake Kivu and in proximity to all local station. This is where Muraho’s own dry mill is located, ensuring full control over the final milling and export preparation process as well as providing much needed employment in the rural area.

About Raw Material - our importing partner:

Raw Material are a community interest company green coffee importer operating in the UK, EU and Australia. The work of Raw Material is centred around the vision of “speciality coffee as a solution”. A solution to sustainably improve the livelihoods of the many small-holder producers who have been historically marginalised and not receiving adequate value for their produce and contribution in the supply stream.

As RM explain:

Often the price farmers receive is lower than their cost of production. This situation leads to cycles of debt and disadvantage that compounds over generations.

The choices of the specialty coffee industry have an outsized ability to influence positive outcomes for producers and the wider environment. The value of the specialty coffee market continues to accelerate with a projected compound annual growth rate of 11-12% across the next 5 years. Total market value was estimated to be 35 billion USD in 2018 and is expected to grow to over 80 billion USD by 2025.

This is an exciting opportunity for development through trade. This is one of the few crises in the world for which the solution is direct and self-sustaining: with the appropriate investments and continued effort, the growing demand for high-quality coffee can be fulfilled by historically marginalised groups to great long-term effect.

To change the world, we need a powerful strategy. This requires that we make tough choices not just about what we will do but also what we will not do. We don’t search for the best coffee. We search for the right communities and work with them to build systems to produce high-quality coffee and connect to a stable marketplace. When the solution is well designed and community-led, results can be achieved very quickly.

Raw Material currently focus on working with producers in Colombia, Mexico, Rwanda & Timor Leste and they are our supply partner for Mexico and now also Rwanda.

You can find out more about their vision, impact and methods here.