Tag: Burundi coffee

Spes: Burundian Coffee Farmer

Life’s best moments often seem to be tucked deep inside the ordinary ho-hum minutes of our days. On Tuesday, the boys and I gave our turtle Popcorn a bath. His name alone makes me smile- one day Ben went out looking for some popcorn (which he couldn’t find anywhere in town) and came back with a turtle. Popcorn’s bath was a simple thing- but to see that turtle’s joy at the vast amount of water before him kind of made my week. That’s strange, I know, but lately I’m realizing it’s all about the little things. Laughing with a friend in the gym, watching an epic rainy season storm roll in, taking a long walk on one of our coffee producing hills, giving myself permission to listen to Christmas music in October… and greeting farmers like Spes.

Spes is one of the first woman coffee farmers I connected with back in 2013 and I love seeing her every coffee season. Greeting her, finding out about how her five children are, talking to her about the future- there is something familial and joyous about seeing the same farmers harvest after harvest. Spes has a small number of trees, only 500, and she’s one of the farmers whose land we have been rejuvinating with new coffee trees.

With new trees comes great responsibility- farmers have to agree to being trained in mulching, fertilizing and pruning practices in order to recieve trees from our nursery. Before the nursery project began our farmers were averageing just 400 grams of coffee cherries per tree and now the average in the hills around our station is 1 kilogram. It’s training alone that has made that difference. We hope, one day, that our farmers will be gleaning 3 kilograms per tree. One day.

Ok, we do get pretty geeky about the coffee trees around here- but seeing transformation is really what this is all about for us.

Follow our #fridayfarmers hashtag on Instagram to see more!

October 7, 2016
Elizabeth: Burundian Coffee Farmer

Have you tasted your coffee before?

“Yes. It’s disgusting. It tastes like medicine!”

What do you hope for your children?

“That someday they will have a life outside of poverty.”

It’s time for a woman’s voice to echo through this portrait series again. Elizabeth is one of the first farmers I remember meeting. She was carrying coffee cherries in a basket on her head into the washing station four years ago- one of our first farmers. She has given us gifts over the years of bananas and beans. It is hard to take Elizabeth’s gifts because we know that she is a widow with six children, but to refuse them would be the antithesis of living in community.

Elizabeth’s life is marked by the loss of her husband. She has had to become the sole provider for her six children since he was killed in the war. Unfortunately, in Burundi widows can loose their land to their husbands’ brother or other male family members after the death of their spouse. Here land is most family’s only lifeline. Thankfully Elizabeth has been able to retain ownership of her land on Gaharo hill and she’s still caring for her family’s 600 coffee trees.

Follow our #fridayfarmers hashtag on Instagram to see more!

June 13, 2016
Charles: Burundian Coffee Farmer

Development begins by picking up a hoe.

Without working these fields,

we will never move forward.

What has made you the happiest in this life?

Being taught by my father how to farm. It is what has sustained me.

Who is your role model in life?

My grandfather. When he left this earth he passed on something to his children. I hope I am able to do the same.

What do you hope for your children?

I hope that they have a good future in agriculture. None of them have had much education. I believe that development begins by picking up a hoe. Without working these fields, we will never move forward.

Have you ever tasted your coffee?

Yes, it’s delicious and sweet!

Charles has been farming coffee since the 1970’s and has 480 trees. Since our washing station opened four coffee seasons ago, he’s been walking from nearby Gaharo hill to deliver his coffee cherries to us.

Follow our #fridayfarmers hashtag on Instagram to see more!

June 3, 2016
Evariste: Burundian Coffee Farmer

Have you ever tasted coffee?

“Today was the first time.”

What did you think?

“It is very bitter- but I’m glad you see the value in it!”

-Evariste

During harvest, Evariste walks his coffee cherries 5 kilometers from his home on Musumba hill to our washing station. It’s a long uphill walk to the station. We always huff and puff walking from Musumba to Bukeye- and that’s without 50 pounds of coffee cherries on our backs or our heads!

Until recently, farmers from Musumba hill had to walk across a single felled tree, high above the river, to get to our washing station. This year we were able to replace their single “lane” bridge and partner with the community to build a safe footpath bridge. One day, we’d love to see Musumba with a working bridge for all types of vehicles- but if we’ve learned anything in the last five years it’s that a small start is still a great start.

Evariste has five children and his mantra for them is, “Work hard and learn how to sustain yourself so that you’ll know what to do when I’m not alive.” Like many farmers in Burundi, and maybe like all of us humans, sustainability is at the heart of Evariste’s life.

Follow our #fridayfarmers hashtag on Instagram to see more!

May 27, 2016
Ninasi: Burundian Coffee Farmer

“I tell my children to work hard because it is how we will fight the poverty. My children bring me the most happiness- I have seven of them and they are all farmers too.”

Ninasi’s role model is the person who taught him how to farm. In Burundi, subsistence farming is how most of the population survives. Ninasi has 305 coffee trees and he’s been farming coffee for 15 years. You can taste Ninasi’s coffee in our Musumba hill offerings (Online in the USA at Duluth or Coffee Hound).

Follow our #fridayfarmers hashtag on Instagram to see more!

May 13, 2016
Dorothy: Burundian Coffee Farmer

Growing Coffee is like raising a child.

You have to wash them, nurture them, and look after them.

We spent part of a Saturday at Dorothy’s house on Gaharo hill. The minute she saw our baby Ari she scooped her up and led our whole family into her home. The dirt floors were cleanly swept and covered in the family’s grass sleeping mats. As her guests, we sat on low wooden stools and she sat on the floor. The only things adorning the cool dirt walls were a picture of Jesus, a plastic rosary, and a small piece of mirror glass. A crowd grew by her open door, entertained as baby Ari grabbed fistfuls of hair belonging to Dorothy’s youngest. We asked her some questions about life and here’s what she said.

Who is your role model in life?

My mom gave me to my grandmother to be raised because she had little means to raise me by herself. My grandmother became the person who taught me about life and the way to live. She taught me everything I know.

What has your biggest challenge in life been?

My biggest challenge in life has been linked to my children. Even after having my first child, I continued to experience pregnancy complications. My third child nearly died. The doctor didn’t think that she would survive the labor, but God intervened and I was able to give birth to a healthy girl.

What will you tell your grandchildren one day about life?

I will teach them about farming. What is most important though is to lead by example. If I pick up a hoe, they’ll follow and also pick up a hoe.

Have you ever tasted your coffee? What did you think?

Yes, when you made it for us. It’s good but it needs sugar.

What is the most difficult part about growing coffee?

It’s not difficult but it takes hard work and diligence. Growing Coffee is like raising a child. You have to wash them, nurture them, and look after them.

Dorothy is 37 and has six children, the youngest pictured with her here. Her family has 54 coffee trees and during harvest she walks the cherries to our Bukeye washing station, just 15 minutes away by foot.

May 6, 2016
Unlikely Heroes Fighting The Potato Defect

The Antestia bug

From far off, the Burundian countryside is a vast expanse of green carpeted rolling hills. Each hill is a distinct geopolitical unit known as a ‘colline’ (‘hill’ in French). Get closer to a colline and a tapestry of patchwork farming appears: a square of banana trees, a patch of cassava, a large section of coffee trees bordered by some maize. Each colline holds a community of between 60 and 140 small holding farmer families. This year, there is something new happening on the hills. Moving between the canopy of coffee trees on each hill is a group of young Burundians, holding bright yellow spray bottles. They are the Long Miles Coffee Scouts.

Armed their unlikely weapons, the scouts wage a battle against the coffee farmer’s greatest and smallest enemy, the Antestia bug. This bug infects coffee cherries with bacteria by drilling a small hole into the skin of the coffee fruit. Once roasted and ground, the infected beans taste like a raw potato. One infected bean has the power to ruin an entire bag of coffee. The rate of infection is sporadic and difficult to trace, sometimes making it a risk for roasters to commit to buying coffee from Burundi. Our goal is to eliminate any trace of the potato defect in our coffees, and we’ve realized we can not do this without the diligence of our scouting team.

A coffee cherry damaged by the Antestia bug

The Coffee Scouts get their name from their training to find the pesky potato bug by scouting coffee trees. Using an inexpensive and organic pesticide (Pyrethrum) they target spray the Antestia which falls to ground moments later. The Coffee Scouts then collect the paralysed Antestia bugs for research. What makes our scouts extra special is that they were all unemployed youth who now have basic agronomy and data recording skills with the potential to study further and increase their local agricultural knowledge. Our team of Coffee Scouts, under the passionate and creative guidance of our agronomist Epaphrus (who we’ve nicknamed “Epa”), now numbers 14.

Epa teaching a farmer about good cherry selection

Our scouts each have 30 “farmer friends” who they visit on a weekly basis. They are committed to helping their 30 farmers understand and use better farming practices- from Antestia capture to mulching, pruning and fertilizing. A few weeks ago, Epa created an Antestia capturing compitition for all the farmers who deliver to the Long Miles station. The reward was 5,000 FBU (about $3.00) for every 100 Antestia bugs captured. The amount of bugs captured was a staggering 14,950 Antestia bugs.

Fabrice, a Coffee Scout, during the Antestia bug skit

With the creation of the Coffee Scout program, coffee farmers surrounding our stations are finally getting the support they’ve desperately needed for so many years. I am so proud of our Antestia fighters. Oh, and they even go around to every hill preforming a hilarious skit about Antestia that at one point affectionatly mocks our very own Mzungu (white guy) Ben. They are a team so worth all the pride we feel.

The great bug hunt continues!

Our Coffee Scouts are currently sponsored by District Roasters

March 26, 2015
Burundi Coffee Farmer: Espéciose Manirakiza

War continues to pulse it’s reaching veins through lives and lands long after the guns stop ringing. For Espéciose, that means being the sole provider for her 6 children in one of the most poverty stricken nations on earth. Her husband was killed in the Burundian civil war that ended in 2006 and she has been farming coffee alone ever since. With just a meager 150 coffee trees, Espéciose farms multiple crops in order to feed her family.

It’s a 45 minute walk to the Long Miles Bukeye washing station from the small hand built brick home on Rugoma hill where Espéciose and her children live. She carries her ripe red coffee cherries in bags set atop the heads of herself and her children. She has never tasted the coffee she works so hard to grow, it’s far too precious to drink. “I work hard with one goal, staying healthy.” she says.

Espéciose’s story may sound a little bleak to you, but it is so much more than that. It is a story of resilience and survival. She has made a way for herself in a land where many would say survival is next to impossible. Espéciose is a community leader and a mother and a farmer, she is so much more than the labels of widow and poverty stricken, although she is those things too. Her challenges are evident, and so is her inspiration and resilience.

As our reach expands at Long Miles, we are searching for creative ways to improve the lives of widows, Espéciose included. We have some great plans under construction, but if you have… Ideas? Resources? Feel free to email us.

October 9, 2014
Portraits of Coffee Harvest + Links

Nature gives to every time and season some beauties of its own; and from morning to night, as from the cradle to the grave, it is but a succession of changes so gentle and easy that we can scarcely mark their progress.

Charles Dickens

Our coffee is slowly being moved from our drying tables and being transported to the dry mill. It is always sad to see the crazy beauty of harvest being traded for the fury of coffee cupping and logistics. This season we couldn’t have made it through without the incredible LMCP team. Let me tell you, the people committed to making Long Miles happen, they really are absolutely INCREDIBLE. Volunteers, interns and staff pulled together in massive ways to make harvest go as smoothly as possible. It was still not without it’s major hiccups. Heza, our second station, was only operational half-way through the season as we met delay after delay after delay. Which meant that we were trucking coffee cherries a short distance over terrible switchbacking dirt roads to lay them on the already burdened tables at our Bukeye station.

If Ben and I learned anything this season, it’s the value of celebrating small victories while standing on a landscape that seems to be full of problems and struggles. We didn’t always do it well, but celebrating the small things helped us through the extra rough bits. Do we want to repeat another season like this one? Absolutely not… next year we have vowed not to build ANYTHING. Two babies, err… washing stations… is enough. Honing our coffee’s quality and deepening our relationships in the communities we are a part of is our focus now.

Deeper. Stronger. Calmer. That’s our mantra moving forward.

There were so many amazing moments this harvest that I just didn’t get around to blogging about. Like Brittany’s naturals and honey research, Lauren and Epapharus’ Antestia bug eradication program (employing out of school youth and getting rid of the potato defect in one fell superhero leap), Texas Jake’s triple tier tables, Lori’s rescued owls, and Caleb’s worm farm to name just a few. Most of those moments ended up on our Instagram accounts if you want to have a look.

This week you can find our coffee online and in stores at Stumptown and Coffee Labs for a very limited time. Also, we are so over the moon about this lovely feature on the Artifact Uprising site. They are masters in the craft of printing, and printed a beautiful book for us a little while ago.

July 23, 2014

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