Tag: burundi coffee harvest

HARVEST UPDATE
From the Farm, Field and Lab

From the Farm

collected and translated by Joy Mavugo in conjunction with Robyn-Leigh van Laren from the Story Team.

It’s been a hard week for Burundi. On Monday 8 June 2020, we heard the news that Burundi’s late president H.E Pierre NKURUNZIZA had very suddenly and unexpectedly passed away. Flags were lowered to half-mast and the country went into a week-long mourning period to remember the person who lead and governed Burundi for close to 15 years.

“When I first heard the news, I couldn’t accept what others were telling me. Two days before, the police stopped people on the road saying that the president was passing by. The second person who told me was my friend who said that the president had died from disease. I asked him: “Who told you that news? Is that disease CORONA?” He told me that he didn’t know. After realizing that it’s true, that the president died, the first question I asked is: “Who will give the presidential chair to his successor at the big ceremony in August?” Death is not afraid. Even if people call themselves great, only God will live forever.” – Céléstin from Mikuba hill.

“It was really scary news, because it happened just after the elections. Burundians, especially from the hill where I live, have bad memories of elections. When I heard the news, I didn’t even ask the cause of his death. Immediately, my heart told me that things will happen again like they did in 1993. I went home and started listening to the radio to hear what the situation is in the country. The good thing is that after his death, no other Burundians have lost their lives. Only…it’s still too early to believe. The lesson I’ve learnt from the president’s death is that there is no great person in the world. God is powerful, and he does what he wants on earth and heaven.” – Bénoit from Mikuba hill.

“When I heard the news, I was very surprised. At first, I didn’t believe what people were saying. I am now wondering: what will happen next? What makes me happy is that things are quiet in the country and there is peace. Nothing is impossible. Three days in the country without a president, and life is normal. The world has surprises in store for us.” – Noël from Mikuba hill

Constructing drying tables at the new Ninga Washing Station

From the Field

written by Seth Nduwayo, Quality Control Manager

Weather
It would sound as if I have an endless repetition of climate stories. One can wonder, “isn’t there anything else more interesting you can be talking about?” However, this is to emphasize how severe and strange the climate is. So, when our partners hear that we have an Environmental Bottom Line among our four bottom lines, they find that it was not a mere choice of words. Rather, it is a real and serious challenge we have to face. While previously I shared with you the lack of rain that caused some berries to dry on the trees, before yesterday we got unexpectedly some rain in Bukeye and a lot of it at Heza, Kayanza. This is not bad as it will help some berries to ripen. However, for trees that didn’t have berries these will start blossoming. And as after this little rain sunny days are going to follow, then the blossoms may dry because they will have sprouted in a wrong period.

Ninga Washing Station
I also spoke about how Ninga farmers are so happy that finally Ninga project is in course of implementation and they can deliver close, without the long walks. As Long Miles Team, we share the happiness with those farmers because Ninga has started to bear fruits. In fact, the first lots that were collected in Ninga and surrounding hills have been taken off the table, this week. Though I referred to our infrastructures at Ninga as basic, I believe that the quality of coffee that was processed there is at the same level or even higher than what is produced at our old stations. My fear is that the supply might be too much lower than the demand. However, we expect the next harvest to be good enough to satisfy all Ninga lovers in both quality and quantity.

A No-Visitor Harvest
COVID-19, has changed the way humanity lives and works; the coffee industry was not spared. We used to host guests who came to visit our factories (Washing Stations). They came for various purposes but we enjoyed hosting them. Some were customers, others were interns, students who want to be at an origin, Cup of Excellence judges, etc. Personally, I really liked that they were coming. In fact, even when they may not buy our delicious coffees, at least they would tell a story about us or recommend their friends to partner with us. In this way, our reputation kept expanding, with many eyewitnesses. This year no more new visitors so far, except those following on Instagram or receiving our newsletters. I wish COVID ended so that we come back to normal.

Image taken by Julianna Elizabeth Herr

From the Lab

written by David Stallings, Roaster Relations

Since the last Harvest Update email, I have received two boxes of table samples. Two more are currently en route; one has just made it to New York City the other is in Nairobi. The coffees I have tasted the past two weeks represent the first coffees delivered to our washing stations this season and, as such, are from quite small lots – some projected to be well less than one bag in size once milled.

Every single table sample produced will be coming through our East Coast lab [i.e. my basement] this year. This includes everything from our highest quality parchment, which is destined to become micro-lots, to our “Cherry-B” lots. (Cherry-B being the underripe and overripe cherries delivered by farmers. We are legally obliged to purchase these coffees from farmers but process them separately as to not lower the quality of our micro-lot coffees.)

The majority of my time over the next two months will be spent analyzing green coffee samples, roasting and cupping said samples, and constructing lots based on volumes, quality, flavor profile, hills, and demand. This is some of the most enjoyable and rewarding work I have the pleasure of doing. I could not be more thrilled to report that the table samples I have cupped thus far this season are of absolute stellar quality.

Beyond cup quality, the physical characteristics of the lots I have analyzed thus far have been quite reassuring. Every lot I have measured the water activity of has fallen between our desired 0.45-0.55 a_w, with the majority of them being in the lower half of this range. Based on the quality of our landed lots from last year, this is exactly where we want our coffees sitting for optimal longevity and freshness.

Links worth checking out
- Our friends at La Cabra recently shared a video shot by Paw Gissel during their 2018 visit to Burundi. Check it out here.
- An interesting NPR piece on COVID-19 and Africa can be found here.
- A New York Times article on the death of President Nkurunziza can be found here.
- An Al Jazeera article on what happens in Burundi following the president’s passing can be found here.
June 15, 2020
HOW IS COVID-19 AFFECTING BURUNDI COFFEE?

We can’t help but think of COVID-19. It’s a very real part of everyday life that has affected everything, from how we operate as a team to how we’re producing coffee. As we opened our coffee harvest season and began to operate our washing stations, we had to think about how to go about producing coffee in a new way. How could we continue to produce coffee without putting people’s lives at risk? In Burundi, social distancing isn’t enforced and up until now, hasn’t officially been encouraged.

Thinking through how we can keep everyone safe is a big part of how we’re producing coffee this year. The main concern is for coffee farmers. The majority of the farming community are extremely vulnerable and an older population. We’ve had to build protocols for our washing stations and farmers that seem as foreign to our team as they did to us when we first heard them. Do you remember the first time you heard that we needed to socially distance ourselves and stand 6 feet apart? It’s an incredible challenge to tell people to stand apart at the washing stations when hundreds of farmers are delivering their coffee cherries at the same time. Coffee production is about space in so many ways. Usually everyone- from neighboring farmers bringing in coffee cherries to our team at the washing station- stands right on top of each other, selecting and sorting through coffee together. Lifting heavy bags of coffee cherries from one corner of the washing station to another. Producing coffee is a high touch, close proximity job. How do we change that? Culturally, it’s really difficult.

“We’ve had to build protocols for our washing stations and farmers that seem as foreign to our team as they did to us when we first heard them. Do you remember the first time you heard that we needed to socially distance ourselves and stand 6 feet apart?”

With 94 reported cases and 1 recorded death (as of 12 June 2020), COVID-19 is affecting Burundi. But…life has in some ways carried on as per usual, which has left many people feeling confused. There has been no lockdown or shutdown, no limitation on movement or travel within the country. Businesses and individuals alike are trying to follow what the country’s Ministry of Health and government is saying about COVID-19, but the reality is that there is extremely limited testing available and limited ability for the health care sector to handle a respiratory disease like this one.

In other ways, life has been turned on its head. All of the land borders have closed. The airport is shut until further notice- there are no commercial flights coming in or going out. Trading between our neighbors, both close and far, has been affected. No one is telling us, coffee producers, what to do or how to keep our team safe. That’s up to us. We’re having to think through: how do we operate to maintain safety for everyone involved while also respecting what the government is saying? We have to keep healthy as we keep producing coffee. We can’t stop the fact that the cherries are ripening and that harvest is happening. If roasters decide not to buy or roast coffee, we won’t stop producing it.

“No one is telling us, coffee producers, what to do or how to keep people safe. That’s up to us.”

In Burundi, coffee farming is ‘essential work’. Coffee makes up 70% of the country’s foreign exchange earnings. As farmers, it doesn’t matter that there’s a pandemic- you still have to harvest. This is also an election year in Burundi. As a country, we had to be able to stand on our own two feet and pay for the election, which is very costly. There are no fall backs. There is no health care or wealth care solution. Coffee is how most people live, and they can’t go a year without producing it. Burundi is also coming off the backend of the worst coffee harvests in decades. Last year (2019), the country as a whole produced just 20% of its usual coffee crop. We have to produce coffee as a country, as coffee producers, as families and individuals- we can’t afford not to. It will be a challenging year, but our vision to produce quality coffee and care for the farmers who grow it doesn’t change.

“There are no fall backs. There is no health care or wealth care solution. Coffee is how most people live, and they can’t go a year without producing it.”

Normal has gone out the window. Whatever the new normal is, we’ll just have to figure it out as it unfolds. We’ll still be producing coffee. We produced last year, we’ll produce this year, and we’ll be producing next year. We’ll still be planting indigenous trees, endeavoring alongside our neighbors and coffee farming families to renew the health of the soil on their land. Our roasting partners won’t be visiting our part of the world anytime soon. We’re thinking now more than ever: how can we partner with and support our specialty coffee community?

Whether it’s Africa, USA, Europe, Australia, Asia, wherever- we’re all experiencing this. We’re looking forward to figuring things out together, once this does pass. To our friends the world over, we’re with you.

Thank you to our friends at Onyx Coffee for starting this conversation.

June 12, 2020
HARVEST UPDATE
From the farm, field and lab.

FROM THE FARM

words by Firmin, collected and translated by Joy Mavugo in conjunction with Robyn-Leigh van Laren from the Story Team.

On 20 May 2020, Burundi took to the polls to vote in the presidential election. This was a pivotal moment for the country as the last election like it, which took place in 2005, was wrought with controversy and violence. Firmin, a 52-year old coffee farmer from Mikuba hill, which is close to our Heza washing station, shares their thoughts on the elections.

“Everything went well on the day of the elections. I went to vote at a polling station set up at a primary school on Nkonge (a neighboring hill) around 11:00 am. I didn’t want to go any earlier because I was waiting to hear about the security of the situation. Up until now, I can say that the elections went well. People are at peace and still going about their everyday activities as usual. Whenever elections have happened in Burundi, I have felt insecure because it reminds me of the bad times we went through as a country after the 1993 elections.

Those who survived the violence in my family hid and lived in the bush for a month. There was one day when my father got drunk, made his way to our house and accidentally fell asleep there. He was killed that day, and all of his crops were thrown into a sewage pit.

It doesn’t really matter who wins the elections – whether the title of president is won fairly or not. What’s important is that there will be no more death on this hill. As someone who has already been through a terrible history of death caused by the elections, it is too early to tell if there will be peace. Violence only erupted three months after the 1993 elections. This time, I like to believe that there will be peace for longer.”

FROM THE FIELD

written by Seth Nduwayo, Quality Control Manager.

“In the first update I raised the issue of irregular rain. What I want to narrate today is its consequence. In fact, after the long days of extravagant rain, next followed long days of baking sun. This, then, causes the berries to dry on trees instead of ripening. However, what is a problem on the one hand becomes an advantage on the other hand. In fact, two weeks ago, we were complaining that we do not have enough drying tables because parchment delays on drying tables, because of rain but today at one of our washing stations, the half of lots that were drying have been taken off table (because of enough sun light).

I will also talk of Ninga Washing Station. Ninga is located 10 kilometers from Bukeye Washing Station. When Bukeye started, there were farmers who were members of a cooperative at Ninga who came to know Long Miles had opened a station at Bukeye. These cooperative members were interested in how Long Miles take care of the farmers they partner with (farmer education through coffee scouts programs, transparency, bonus, social projects…). So they decided to deliver their cherry to Bukeye, though it was far. When they were lucky, they rented a truck but it happened that cherry collection was banned. Then they started walking to Bukeye. However, it was not easy to reach Bukeye, not only because of the distance, but also because of threats from workers of another washing station they went past before reaching our station. Those workers were supported by some corrupt local leaders. As Ninga is a region with a lot of good coffee, Long Miles got a plan to build a Washing Station there. Then land was bought in 2017. We always thought Ninga could start in 2018 and Ninga farmers hoped to cut with the threats and long walking. But for many reasons, some financial, others related to coffee sector regulations and speculations, it is in this year that we will be able to set basic infrastructures that can allow us to receive farmers and dry some coffee on the land. So, farmers are very happy that the washing station they had been waiting for has just started slowly. For them, this is a victory as many challenges made them feel pessimistic while today, a candle of hope is shining in a room of darkness.”

FROM THE LAB

written by David Stallings, Roaster Relations

“The first round of samples from the 2020 harvest season are officially en route to our lab in the States. Currently “On Hold” in Bahrain, according to DHL’s tracking, to be exact. These samples represent the very first coffees to come off of our drying tables this season. Over the next eight to twelve weeks I will be tracking hundreds of samples as they pour into our lab, eager to do a complete physical analysis on them, roast them, cup them, and in turn, send them back out to roasters and importing partners the world over.

Admittedly, when I say “our lab” in the States, I am referring to a corner of my basement. Do not be mistaken, it is a well-outfitted corner. In it sits an Ikawa, a two-barrel Probat sample roaster, an EK43. Immediately upon moving into this house, three years ago, I installed what I deemed the necessary water treatment equipment to make sure I could cup and brew coffee I would be happy with. It is, without question, the basement of a coffee professional. But, a basement none-the-less.

But that is 2020. I do not know one person who is not “making do” right now, who is not parent, teacher, employee, employer, (and so much more) all wrapped into one. While we often wear these many hats, we are not accustomed to doing so simultaneously. The dramatic shift away from what I, and so many others, know to be normal has provided some excellent and much-needed perspective.

Just a few short weeks ago, for example, we believed that we were facing a harvest that would be comparable to the volumes we saw in 2017. As the days pass, one after another, without rain, we are realizing that some cherry on the tree is likely to not ripen. Though significantly better than last season, volumes will likely not be what we expected and certainly not what we had hoped for. Six months ago this would have been extremely jarring to me. But the world has taught me some measure of patience through the pandemic, some measure of understanding just how little control I have. As the old adage goes, it is not what happens but how we respond, and I am certain this year holds many wonderful responses from the team I am so lucky to work with.”

Links worth checking out
- We wrote a letter to our friends at Onyx Coffee Lab about Coffee Production in the age of COVID. You can read it here.
- New York Times article on Burundi voter turnout and some context on the election.
- New York Times article on the election results.
June 5, 2020
2020 HARVEST UPDATE

From the farm, field and lab.

Over the coming weeks, we plan to share updates from the ground in Burundi; updates from the farm, field and lab.

Emilliene, a coffee farmer from Nkonge hill, with their son

FROM THE FARM

words from Emilliene, collected and translated by Joy Mavugo in conjunction with Robyn-Leigh van Laren from the Story Team.

“This coffee harvest is going well -much better than last season but it has also been challenging. When you look at the coffee trees, there are so many cherries. But, there are a few things that I’m worried about. Firstly, there has been too much rain. It’s been destroying roads, houses, and so many other things in our community. Some of the coffee cherries are taking more time to ripen because of the rain. Since the start of harvest in April, I have only picked and delivered cherries to the washing station two times. The general elections are also coming up. I don’t like it when the elections happen in Burundi. In 1993, many of my family members, including my husband, were killed. When I think of the elections, all I can think of is the hard times we’ve had to go through since then.”

Seth Nduwayo, Quality Control Manager and Joy Mavugo, Story Assistant

FROM THE FIELD

written by Seth Nduwayo, Quality Control Manager.

“Today, I will talk about weather/climate. In fact, the climate in parts of Burundi where we are operating is unpredictable. We may be expecting a rainy period and this delays or vice versa. For example, at the end of August we had some rain and this caused the blossoming of coffee. Then, we thought that harvest will start as early as February instead of March. Still, we experienced some sunny days between January and February. However, February was very rainy- something we usually experience in April. As the cherries didn’t have enough sunlight, they ripened later and up until today, there are too many cherries in the plantations that are still green. This caused harvest to start later, on April 15th (a month later than expected). Most farmers affirm having a lot of cherries that will take long enough to ripen.”

FROM THE LAB

written by David Stallings, Roaster Relations.

“Along with concrete plans the world over, the current global pandemic has forced us to reimagine our lab situation for the 2020 Harvest. Long Miles was incredibly lucky to have the lionhearted Jordan Verdouw managing our Bujumbura lab for the 2019 Harvest. Jordan did an absolutely top-notch job screening coffees, providing cupping feedback to all members of our team, and also setting up systems for success in future harvests. While we had every intention to bring Jordan back into the Bujumbura lab for the 2020 season, the universe has decided to keep Jordan in his native Australia for the foreseeable future. When we realized we could not bank on travel restrictions lifting during the harvest, we shifted and decided to move the entire lab to the States. As samples come off the drying beds they will be dispatched weekly. From the East Coast of the States they will be analyzed (physically and sensorially). The biggest boon from this scenario is that samples should be getting to our roasting partners earlier than ever this year, as they will all leave from the States.”

June 3, 2020

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