Growing up, Aline didn’t know that one day she would work in the coffee sector in Burundi. She joined the Long Miles team back in 2014 as a supervisor of the teams hand-picking parchment coffee for defects. Now, Aline is the Assistant Manager of Coffee Quality Control at Bukeye Washing Station.
What is your earliest memory of coffee?
When I heard about the Long Miles Washing Station on Gaharo hill, I decided to ask if they had a job for me. I had no idea of what happens at a coffee washing station, and didn’t know anything about processing coffee. At the time, the washing station manager told me that there were no jobs for women, that there were only jobs for men. I asked him to give me a chance working there so that he could see that I was capable of learning. After a month, he appreciated how I worked and he offered me a full-time job.
What is your role in the coffee supply chain?
When I started out, I was in charge of supervising the hand-picking team. Now, I am the Assistant Manager of Coffee Quality Control at Bukeye Washing Station.
What does a ‘’typical day’’ look like for you?
During coffee harvest, I do the same thing: control the steps that coffee goes through, especially during the hand-picking stage at the cherry selection tables.
What does working in coffee mean for you?
It’s proof that women , especially in the rural areas of Burundi, are as capable of working in coffee as men.
Are there any challenges that you think exclude women from working in coffee?
I think that the challenges for some women- not just those working in the coffee sector- is that they are working mothers. Working at night can be a big challenge. I think that this is the reason why men say that women are not able to work in coffee, but for me it’s not a question of being able but how many responsibilities a woman has to take on.
When you consider the coffee industry, do you think that women are empowered to be in leadership and decision-making roles?
In the organization that I work for, a woman has the same place as a man. Gender is respected. There are women representatives in all the teams, and they can make decisions in their roles.
Is there anyone in the coffee industry who inspires you?
I don’t know yet.
Is there anything that you would like to learn or do to further your understanding of coffee?
Working in the coffee sector has given me the opportunity of learning many things. I can even teach others what I’ve learnt. In Burundi, there is no school for teaching you about coffee, but working in coffee is a lesson in itself. You can learn as you work. I have learnt about coffee quality, from cherry to parchment, but I still need to learn more about coffee quality from parchment to cup.
Written by David Stallings, head of Roaster and Importer Relations
As an industry, the term “coffee processing” refers to how we remove the seeds from a coffee fruit. How any given coffee is processed is important because of the fact that processing can have a strong impact on the flavors found in the finished cup of brewed coffee.
Though we colloquially refer to coffee as “beans,” this is botanically inaccurate. Coffee is the seed of a fruit. To be more exact, the coffee fruit is a drupe or stone fruit. Unlike other stone fruits, such as peaches or cherries, which possess relatively large mesocarps (the pulp or edible portion of these fruits), the coffee fruit possesses an incredibly small mesocarp. This means that the coffee fruit is not particularly well-suited to being eaten (by humans or even most animals). Through the ages we have, of course, found an equally pleasurable use for this fruit: coffee seeds are removed from the fruit, after which they are roasted, ground, and brewed into the decoction known as coffee.
Coffee Processing
We can talk about two broad categories of coffee processing: coffees that are pulped prior to drying and coffees that are not pulped prior to drying. Here, “Pulping” refers to removing the leathery skin of the coffee fruit, along with some fruit mucilage.
Regardless of the method used to separate the seeds from the coffee fruit (i.e. regardless of how the coffee is processed), it is critical that the coffee seeds be dried. As with many produce items, coffee seeds that have not been adequately dried could develop mold. Further, proper drying is critical for retaining the freshness of the coffee for the longest possible period of time. If a coffee is not properly dried, it could taste “old” (papery, woody) much faster than if the coffee was dried properly. As such, and interestingly enough, the terms “age” and “old” are fairly relative in coffee and have more to do with how a coffee is tasting, as opposed to how long it has been since the coffee was harvested. A coffee that is three months off harvest can taste “old” if it was not dried properly, while a coffee twelve months off harvest can still taste quite fresh.
Natural Processing
Coffees that are not pulped prior to being dried are typically referred to as Naturally Processed or Dry Processed coffees. To produce a Naturally Processed coffee, which happens to be the original processing method (due to its innate simplicity), one simply harvests the (ideally ripe) coffee cherries and dries the entire fruit. The coffee then remains on drying tables until the target moisture content is reached.
During this time the coffee fruit is turned at regular intervals to ensure even drying and to avoid any pockets of moisture from remaining that could encourage microbial proliferation. Naturally Processed coffees tend to be very fruit-forward and sweet, generally with lower perceived acidity. The distinctly fruity flavor profile of these coffees tends to be polarizing: some people absolutely love the character while others find it off-putting. Though ostensibly simple, producing clean Naturally Processed coffees is incredibly challenging. We wrote about that fact in this Instagram post back in November of 2020.
Fully Washed Processing
Coffees that are pulped prior to being dried can fall into two primary categories: Fully Washed and Honey. Fully Washed – also known as Washed, or Wet Processed – is the older and more popular of these two processing methods and involves pulping the fruit and then placing the mucilage covered seeds into a tank and allowing the mass to ferment. The fermentation taking place is dependent upon microbes found in the air and on the coffee plant consuming the sugars of the coffee fruit.
Yeasts and bacteria break down the sugars of the mucilage and the stubborn pectin layer immediately surrounding the seeds. After these layers are broken down, the mucilage is easily washed away and the coffee seeds, still covered in a protective parchment layer, are sent to drying tables to be dried to the target moisture-level. Fully Washed coffees tend to be clean, balanced, and present a sparkling acidity that can drive and inform the perceived sweetness in the finished cup.
Honey Processing
Existing somewhere between Fully Washed processing and Natural processing, the Honey processing method (also referred to as Pulped Natural) was developed by coffee equipment manufacturer Pinhalense in the 1990’s. The goal was to produce a coffee that struck a balance between the sweet, heavy-bodied character of a Naturally Processed coffee and the balanced cleanliness of a Fully Washed Coffee.
Honey processed lots begin by being pulped, like a Fully Washed process coffee. After pulping, however, the coffees skip tank-fermentation and mucilage removal and head directly to the drying tables, mucilage and all. A bonus of this processing is the small amount of water used when compared to Fully Washed coffees. We wrote about Honey Processed lots in an Instagram post back in November of 2020. That post can be found here.
When produced carefully, Honey processed lots can be very clean and elegant. In our experience, however, they can also lack both the fruited complexity of a Naturally processed coffee and the expressive acidity of a Fully Washed coffee. Over the past two years we have experimented with various ways to produce Honeys that remain clean but are also more expressive. We will share more about those processes in an upcoming blog post!
In Burundi, a washing station (or wet mill) is a communal space. It doesn’t just belong to those who build, own or manage it, and it’s not just a place for coffee farmers to deliver their coffee cherries to. A washing station is a sign of development within a community; a landmark where neighbors can gather, use it as a meeting place, find jobs, and often collect water.
“Seeing a washing station gives us hope. Before there was nothing, no building – it was only a hill.Now, there’s a washing station and mzungus are buying coffee. We continue seeing change and new building, and it gives us hope that the future will be good for the community.”
– Lucien, a partner coffee farmer from Camizi hill.
There are so many things to take into consideration when building a washing station. Does the area have a reputation for growing coffee? Is there a need for it? Is there suitable land available? What impact will its existence have on the environment? Will it be profitable? More, but not most importantly, is there an available water source?
Coffee simply cannot exist without water. Not only is water important for the growth and development of a coffee seed and plant, it’s necessary for processing coffee. The quality steps of floating and rinsing coffee cherries to pulping, grading, fermenting, and soaking parchment coffee wouldn’t be possible without an abundance of water. Of course, the importance of water is another conversation when it comes to cupping and brewing coffee.
Getting clean water in large quantities to the Long Miles Washing Stations has been a challenge for us over the years. When Heza opened back in 2014, we were sourcing water from two catchment areas on Gitwe hill. We shared a water source with the communities living around the washing station, but struggled with frequently broken pipes causing an insufficient supply of water to flow to Heza. We tried everything from fixing the pipes to recycling the water before finding a new water source four kilometers away, and pumping water from there to the station.
Umuhini mushasha, utera amababa.
“A new handle leaves you with some pain in your hand.”
– Raphael Kayembe, Managing Director of Long Miles in Burundi.
This Kirundi phrase has stuck with us because it seems to aptly describe the blistering and bruising it took our team to get Ninga, our new washing station, fully operational in time for the season opener this year.
In 2019, after purchasing the land where Ninga Washing Station would eventually stand, we worked with consultants to dig a well and install a hand-pump to access clean water. With our water source in place, we turned our focus to the build out of the station. It was only when it came to installing and connecting our McKinnon depulper to the water pipes that we realized the well wasn’t deep enough to access clean groundwater at the quantity and quality that we needed. Although community members had been collecting water for washing clothes from the pump since the day it was installed, it wasn’t suitable for cooking or drinking, let alone processing coffee.
We tried adapting the initial drilling, installing a new pump, and making tweaks to improve the water’s quality. The original pump was supposed to produce 3m3 of clean water per hour but through the redevelopment we found that it was only producing 1m3 of unclean water per hour. At 40m deep, the pump was still getting blocked with mud. Even after disassembling and cleaning it, the water that flowed from the pump was littered with pebbles and sand.
With the coffee trees starting to ripen and farmers anxious about having to deliver their harvest elsewhere, we couldn’t delay the opening of Ninga any longer. Without a fully operational washing station at this point, we made the call to start collecting coffee cherries from partner farmers and processed our first sun-dried Natural micro-lots of the season.
Behind the scenes, we continued exploring every alternative water source in the areas surrounding Ninga Washing Station for over a month. The sources that we could find were too far away to connect to (some fifteen kilometres from the washing station), had a low outflow of water or were already at capacity. After a lot of consideration, we bit the bullet and contracted a new consultant to perform a new drilling. It was our last hope.
Following a week of drilling, we found that clean groundwater was flowing at 65m deep. Without really realizing it, the doubt that we could get this fixed in time had been niggling away in our mind and we had been holding our breath for weeks. It was the sight of clean, flowing water that finally allowed the team to collectively let out a sigh of relief. With the hardest part behind us, we were fortunate enough to find all the additional parts in the country: the drill, electric pump, and pipes.
Not only have we been able to produce Fully Washed and Naturally processed coffees at Ninga Washing Station this season, but the tap has been opened to the neighboring communities once again for water collection. We’re especially excited about the anaerobically fermented micro-lots that we’ve processed using our new Jack Bins. Despite the challenge of water this harvest season, the quality of our Ninga coffees is looking like our best year yet!
Have you got questions about our current (2021) crop of Burundi coffee? Please get in touch with David Stallings, head of Roaster and Importer Relations at Long Miles Coffee.
“I have young sons who must have stolen the camera and taken pictures without me knowing.”
Damien is a seventy-seven-year-old coffee farmer from Nkonge hill in Burundi who seems to carry his walking cane, worn leather hat and good sense of humour everywhere he goes. The last time that Damien held a copy of his photograph was when he applied for his national identity card in the early 1960s.
He waved his cane wildly in the air a couple of times when talking about his photos, laughing at himself when he couldn’t quite make out what he had tried to capture. “I have young sons who must have stolen the camera and taken pictures without me knowing,” he told us while flicking through his stack of printed photos for the first time. Damien comes from a big but tightly-knit family. He has over thirty grandchildren, and the youngest love walking to his house to spend time with their sokuru1.
“In our family, everyone helps with coffee. During the coffee harvest, we all pick our coffee cherries and carry them to the washing station.”
My grandchildren and neighbor’s children. They were playing together, and I asked them to raise their hands so that I could take their photo. I enjoy playing with my grandchildren. They come to my house to play. I can also ask them to help me with things if my wife is not at home, like fetching water.
My house is on the left. These clothes were out to dry. We use tree branches to hang our clothes on.
My grandchildren are in this photo. They were playing with the neighbors’ children when they asked grandpa to take a photo, then others came who also wanted to be in the picture. I enjoy having a big family. We are close and have good relationships.
Beans are very important in Burundi. I think all over the world they are eating beans. We eat more beans than Rwanda.
This cow belongs to my niece. It has its own room in their house. It’s really fat, which pleases me.
My neighbor was sitting in front of his banana trees. He took this position just for the photo.
Footnotes
Sokuru (Kirundi: grandfather)
“Before + Now” is dedicated to bringing the voices of marginalized coffee farmers into the field of vision of everyday coffee consumers. It includes a series of photographs made by coffee farmers in Burundi, East Africa as well as a large-format portrait of each farmer. This series makes it possible not only to see life in East Africa and the coffee process, but also to connect clearly with the dreams, fears, and hopes of coffee farmers. Read more about “Before + Now” here.
When she was just sixteen years old, a student named Emilienne fell in love and dropped out of school, choosing marriage over her schoolbooks. In 1993, just four years later, she tragically lost her young husband to the civil war ensuing the assassination of Burundi’s first democratically elected president. Emilienne was five months pregnant with their third child at the time.
“Family is very important to me. When I lost my husband, my mother and brothers helped me with everything.”
Burundi still has ways to go when it comes to the laws underpinning a woman’s right to inheriting, controlling and owning land. She put up an incredible fight when her in-laws tried to chase Emilienne and her two young girls out of her late husband’s home. With a loan from her mother and the support of her brothers, Emilienne was able to buy a piece of land and build a bigger home for her growing family.
“My favorite thing about being a mother is that when you have children, you are not alone.”
It was years later when she would meet Salvator, a widowed coffee farmer from a neighboring hill. Despite living apart from one another for several years, Emilienne and Salvator have since raised four children together. They still walk to see each other every day, and are waiting until their eldest children are married before moving in together.
The last time I had a photo of myself, I was seventeen years old. It was a picture taken by a priest, but stolen during the war. I will keep this photo in my house and always look at it.
I built this house alone. I am proud to have this big house because when I got married, we were living in a small house. My mother helped me by giving me a loan and I am still paying her back.
My son Irakoze’s chickens. He took this picture.
A poster in my brother’s house. It’s beautiful. Hanging in front is paper from notebooks that we cut to make decorations. My son learnt how to make them at school.
My brother’s son and daughter. Family is very important to me. During my single life, my brothers helped me so much.
“Before + Now” is dedicated to bringing the voices of marginalized coffee farmers into the field of vision of everyday coffee consumers. It includes a series of photographs made by coffee farmers in Burundi, East Africa as well as a large-format portrait of each farmer. This series makes it possible not only to see life in East Africa and the coffee process, but also to connect clearly with the dreams, fears, and hopes of coffee farmers. Read more about “Before + Now” here.
Apollinaire has grown coffee for more than four decades but rarely had the chance to taste it.
“I only drink coffee when they give it to us at the washing station. Coffee is sweet. I like it more than tea.”
Like many other coffee-farming parents in Burundi, Apollinaire has gone to great lengths teaching his children how to grow and care for coffee. “Children don’t want to grow coffee because they know that their parents have already planted it. They’ll wait until we are no longer around to farm our coffee”, he sighs. “In general, young people are lazy and don’t enjoy farming that much. They are different from older people.”
As the head of three coffee farming associations and an active member of other community-based projects, Apollinaire is also a leader in his community. “It was the first time that I’d heard of farmers having cameras and taking photos,” he says, “but I know that when I show people the photos that I took, it will bring them much joy and happiness.”
At my brother’s house. I took this because I knew I would be getting it back. The last time I had a photo of myself was when I got my identity card in 2005.
A coffee plantation. The cherries were red and ripe. Athanase, my friend, is on the bicycle. He was borrowing it so that he could deliver his coffee to the washing station.
My cow. It’s very important to me. It gives me fertilizer and it will give birth soon. I’m happy because then I will have milk to sell and give to my grandchildren.
These are small zucchinis that I planted in my coffee plantation. We eat the root and the leaves, but they also protect the soil.
My big tea plantation that has been stolen by my cousin. We went to court and I won the case, but my cousin’s workers are still picking tea in the plantation. This is something that hurts me, but I hope in the future I will have it back again.
This is where we sell our tea and it gets put in the truck. I drink it, but coffee is sweeter, and I like it more than tea.
“Before + Now” is dedicated to bringing the voices of marginalized coffee farmers into the field of everyday coffee consumers. It includes a series of photographs made by coffee farmers in Burundi, East Africa as well as a large-format portrait of each farmer. This series makes it possible not only to see life in East Africa and the coffee process, but also to connect clearly with the dreams, fears, and hopes of coffee farmers. Read more about “Before + Now” here.
“To have a washing station at Ninga is like a country that fought for independence, and got it. I will always celebrate this victory. No one will take it from us.”
We have been thinking about building a coffee washing station on Ninga hill for years. It’s been on our minds ever since we opened the doors of Bukeye, the first washing station that we built, for our inaugural coffee harvest in Burundi. We wrote about this not so long ago. Looking back, it has taken us close to seven years to make Ninga Washing Station happen.
Ninga hill is seated in the Butaganzwa Commune, an incredibly competitive and politically-charged area to work in. During those early years of producing coffee, we found that coffee farmers from Ninga and its surrounding sub-hills were streaming into our Bukeye Washing Station, walking more than fifteen kilometres (a journey that can take up to three hours by foot) to deliver their cherries. After speaking with some of these farmers and visiting their coffee farms, our team soon realized that they were producing quality coffee but didn’t want to deliver their cherries to other nearby washing stations because they felt like they couldn’t trust them with their coffee. Corruption, unbalanced scales, mistreatment of the coffee farming community, and delayed payments for coffee delivery broke farmers’ trust with other washing stations that over-promised and under-delivered.
“Times are not the same. I still remember when I was imprisoned because I refused to stop delivering my own coffee at Bukeye Washing Station. There was a strong hope of having a washing station at home. One night, during that time, I sat in my house thinking about the future of my coffee, but I couldn’t see it.”
– Tharcisse from Ninga hill in Burundi.
Hearing a similar, disheartening account from people on Ninga hill over and over again, it was clear to our team that something needed to change.
2017
That opportunity presented itself to us near the end of 2017, when we were able to buy a piece of land seated at 1900masl on Ninga hill that was flanked by the Nkokoma River.
2018
We applied to the National Coffee Board at the beginning of the year for authorization to start construction of the washing station. It took ten months for the board to set up a “technical commission” to check that the land had everything it needed. Does it really belong to Long Miles? Check. Is there a fair distance between where our washing station will go and other washing stations in the area? Check. Would coffee farmers in the area find it valuable to have another washing station here? Check. Would processing coffee here have any negative implications on the environment? Check. Will the washing station’s activities be profitable? Check.
2019
In October, more than a year after the technical commission had been set up, we were finally able to sign off all of the necessary paperwork and got permission to start the build of Ninga Washing Station. However, the country’s coffee sector was going through major shifts at the time. The restructuring of Burundi’s National Coffee Board coupled with rumblings of the government nationalizing the coffee sector caused a number of delays for the start of construction, and a landslide of uncertainty for coffee producers in the country.
2020
The new National Coffee Board was in place, and the rumours of nationalizing Burundi’s coffee sector were at bay. With harvest opening early April, forty-five newly built drying tables, and our McKinnon yet to be installed, we decided to start producing our first natural processed micro-lots of the season- the only coffees to be processed at Ninga Washing Station that year. By the end of August, we held the first farmer payday day at our official Ninga Washing Station site and celebrated alongside our partnering coffee farmers.
“For five years, I’ve didn’t participate in payday because it was far from home. I used to pay someone to go and collect my money on payday. I was so happy to meet with other people from around the entire hill and even saw a friend that I hadn’t seen in twenty years! I thought that she might have died because so many from our generation have. It was a great day.”
– Matilda, a seventy-five year-old old coffee farmer from Ninga hill.
What does building Ninga Washing Station mean for the future of coffee on Ninga hill?
“Having a washing station in our area is a big development, not only for coffee farmers but for everyone in our community.”
During the construction of the washing station, 200 hundred people were employed representing almost the same numbers of households from the community. We’ve been encouraged to hear that the washing station will bring change for those growing coffee in the area too.
“What is important is that we now have a washing station at home. Things at the washing station are organized, the farmer card system is fair, and the scales are good. You’re not stealing our coffee. This is encouraging.”
– Leonard, coffee farmer from Gikungere, close to Ninga hill.
Many farmers from Ninga hill won’t have to walk as far to deliver their cherries, which will help to shorten the time between coffee being picked and coffee being pulped at our washing station. This shortened time helps to reduce the risk of enzymatic reactions taking place within the coffee cherries that could impart unwanted flavour to the finished cup of coffee, and allows for the greatest potential of consistency going into pulping.
“I thought about stopping to grow coffee, but glory to God, the hope that was in me did not accept defeat! This is a victory. It is a miracle! I helped to build the washing station, and am now working as a guard. I have a story to tell to my grandchildren. Ninga Washing Station is bringing a new beginning of growing coffee. In my mind, I am like a new coffee farmer. It is amazing.”
– Tharcisse from Ninga hill in Burundi.
With our newly fitted McKinnon and the final touches happening at the washing station, we’re looking forward to producing fully washed and natural process coffees this season. We’ll also be experimenting with anaerobic lots, so keep your eyes peeled for our updates when coffee harvest opens in Burundi next month!
We’re often asked the question, “What does a ‘typical day’ in the life of Long Miles Coffee look like?”
The truth? It depends on when you ask. Although coffee harvest only happens once a year in Burundi and usually lasts around three months (sometimes more), growing and producing coffee is a year-round effort. On any given day of the week, the Long Miles team could be spread out between the country’s capital, or upcountry at our washing stations where coffee is grown. For the thousands of smallholder coffee farmers that we work with, a “typical day” is completely different from our own. The time that coffee farmers in Burundi spend on farming activities is divided between a multitude of crops, not just focused on coffee.
Here’s a glimpse at what an “average” year in the life of Long Miles Coffee in Burundi looks like:
JANUARY-FEBRUARY
It’s the beginning of the year. The country is experiencing “impeshi”, which translated from Kirundi (the local language spoken in Burundi) means “small dry season”. Depending on the area and soil structure, farmers are planting a variety of crops in this season, especially beans, potatoes, and peas. If coffee farmers have access to insecticides, they will be spraying them on their coffee trees as well as weeding their coffee farms. Some will even start pruning their coffee trees.
January is usually the time that our head of Production and Quality Control, Seth Nduwayo, leads our annual Coffee Quality and Production Training. It’s also the time when we start preparing the annual calendar for our social and environmental impact projects: PIP (Integrated Farm Plan), Farmer Field School, Trees For Kibira, and Womxn and Youth Empowerment Programs.
Joy Mavugo from the Story team connecting with a partner coffee farmer.
The Story team, lead by Joy Mavugo, is out in the coffee hills, connecting with coffee farmers to hear their thoughts in the weeks that prelude coffee harvest. Most importantly, this is when we start applying for our annual production license- something that coffee producers in Burundi must do at the start of each year. Without it, we wouldn’t be able to open our washing stations for cherry collection or begin processing the first coffees of the season.
Every week, the Long Miles Coffee Scouts are visiting each of the hills that we collect coffee from, checking on the health of our own coffee farms, meeting with Farmer Field School team members and teaching best agricultural practices, making note of the visible effects of climate change in the coffee hills, keeping a record of the number of antestia caught, distributing and planting seedlings from our Trees For Kibira nurseries. To diversify our coffee farms, our team at Heza Washing Station is maintaining the handbuilt cowsheds and laying down new fodder for our two mama cows and their calves.
Together with our washing station managers and production teams, the Coffee Scout leaders are also holding meetings with community development officers and partner coffee farmers, hearing from them if there were any challenges or issues during the previous coffee harvest and discussing ways to resolve this before the upcoming coffee harvest.
MARCH-JUNE
The country is experiencing its biggest rainy season of the year. The coffee cherries are red, ripening, and ready to be picked. The antestiabug (the insect thought to be linked to the Potato Taste Defect) thrives during this time because the cherries are soft and sweet, making it easier for the bug to bore holes into the cherry skins. Farmers are scouting for these bugs in their coffee trees and if they find them, are removing them by hand.
The end of March usually marks the opening of coffee harvest in Burundi, and coffee farmers will spend most of their days hand-picking cherries then walking to deliver them to the nearest washing station or collection point. Generally, other crops aren’t planted in this season because coffee is on everyone’s mind.
April and May roll around, and coffee harvest is in full swing. It’s one of the busiest times of year for our team. The Coffee Scouts spend their days between guiding coffee farmers through selective cherry picking on their farms and at the washing stations or collection points, assisting with farmer reception and cherry quality control. Our team also works alongside our partner coffee farmers, harvesting cherries from the Long Miles Coffee Farms. Each delivery of cherry is processed, either as a fully washed, natural, or honey-processed coffees, and left to dry on raised drying tables.
The Story team spends these weeks following our team’s activities, connecting with coffee farmers on their farms, and documenting their harvest, or at the washing stations following the production of coffee.
This is usually the time that we get to welcome our roasting partners in Burundi to experience a slice of coffee harvest, see coffee in production, connect with our team and partner coffee farmers, and join us around the cupping table to taste a selection of fresh crop coffees.
JULY-AUGUST
The start of July usually signals that coffee harvest is coming to a close in Burundi. Most of the parchment coffee is either off the tables or about to come off. Our washing stations no longer receive coffee cherries, and our team’s focus shifts to the dry mill.
Our Production and Quality team at the dry mill is focused on constructing micro-lots and preparing coffees for export. They are regularly sending samples to our Long Miles Coffee lab, where hundreds of cups of coffee are cupped, analysed, and scored by our team before being sent as samples to our roasting partners the world over. This work starts in July and continues until the end of the year.
The country-wide coffee pruning campaign officially opens, and the Coffee Scouts are helping coffee farmers to identify which coffee trees should be pruned or stumped. All around farm maintenance is happening at the same time: weeding, applying organic fertilizers, and mulching the ground to keep it moist during the upcoming dry season.
At the helm of our Social and Environmental Impact Leader, Epa Ndikumana, the Coffee Scouts are also collecting samples of soil for testing, and analysing the benefits of intercropping banana trees with coffee on our coffee farms. Our Story team is there to capture it all: the dry mill, the post-harvest activities, and most importantly, farmer payments.
Farmer Payday is the one day of the year when all of the coffee farming communities that we work with receive payment for the coffee cherries that they delivered to us during harvest season. The money that most farmers earn from growing coffee is spent on their children’s school tuition and supplies, home repairs, and investing in other income-earning projects. In the weeks leading up to payday, our team works hard behind the scenes, counting money and preparing each farmer’s payment. Hill by hill, each farmer that we work with is paid for every kilogram of coffee cherry that they delivered to a Long Miles Washing Station or collection point.
SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER
The country is experiencing “agatas”, which translated from Kirundi means “small rainy season”. These are the months that are considered the main planting season in Burundi. Whatever farmers choose to grow is planted at this time.
The mature coffee trees start to flower- depending on the amount of rainfall in the country- and the coffee cherries are in the early stages of developing. This is the time for coffee farmers to be maintaining their coffee nurseries, planting new coffee trees, and weeding their plantations. Those who have access to lime and fertilizer will start applying it on their coffee farms.
The coffees at the dry mill continue to be milled, bagged, and processed before being loaded onto trucks and headed to our roasting partners across the world.
Meanwhile, the Coffee Scouts are evaluating the growth and survival rate of the Trees For Kibira seedlings in the nurseries. As the year comes to a close, a bonus payment is made to the coffee farmers who delivered high quality cherries throughout the season.
There’s no short way of answering the question, “What does a ‘typical day’ look like for you?” No matter the year, there’s no small amount of words to share with you what producing coffee in Burundi looks like for our team. As we write this, the coffee cherries have already started to ripen, rain has fallen, and our team has started preparing for the upcoming harvest season. We can’t wait to share what this year holds with you!
Coffee has a storied history in Burundi. It was introduced to the country in the 1920s under Belgian colonial rule. By the early 1930s, all of the farmers in the country were given coffee seedlings and forced to cultivate them with very little resources, support, or compensation to do so.
“I started growing coffee when Burundi was still colonized by the Belgians. During that time growing coffee was very different compared to today. First of all, we were growing coffee by force. Sometimes, we were even beaten. We had no idea of what we were doing. What I remember is that they [Belgian colonizers] used to tell us that we must cultivate coffee, because it will help us in the future.” – Charles Ntandikiye, 83-year-old farmer from Gaharo hill.
“First of all, we were growing coffee by force.”
Shortly after the country’s independence in 1962, the coffee sector was privatized. But by 1972, the government had regained control over it. In 1993, the country’s first set of democractic elections took place and the first president was voted into power. Not long after that, the president was assassinated during an attempted coup d’état. The weeks that followed this were marked by civil war and violence; a rebel campaign encouraging farmers to rip out their coffee trees to destabilize the economy. Many people- both in the city and in the rural parts of the country- fled from their land, seeking safer regions elsewhere in Burundi or crossing the borders into neighboring Tanzania, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Some stayed where they were the entire time.
Those who did eventually return often came back only to find that their land had been displaced or claimed by someone else. Since then, the coffee sector has slowly been returning to its previously privatized state.
“Although I started cultivating coffee by force, I didn’t stop when the Belgians left the country because I realized that what they had told us was true. I have seen the benefits of the coffee crop in my family’s life. When I’ve gotten money from coffee, I’ve paid for school fees, bought clothes, and paid my workers. I will cultivate coffee for the rest of my life.”
“I will cultivate coffee for the rest of my life.”
Charles Ntandikiye, a Burundian coffee farmer, stands amongst his coffee trees.
Not all farmers feel the same way as Charles does. Over the years, we’ve heard many reports from farmers that they’ve since ripped out the coffee trees from their farms and planted beans or potatoes instead. When your introduction to growing coffee was by force and its history stained by political instability and conflict, it’s understandably hard to be passionate about growing it.
But, the Long Miles Coffee Scouts are working to see this change.
The Long Miles Coffee Scouts walking to visit Farmer Field School team members on their farms.
Together with Epa Ndikumana, Social and Environmental Impact Leader at Long Miles, the Coffee Scouts have formed Farmer Field Schools (FFS). Why? To equip any interested farmers with the resources, support, or encouragement that they need to continue growing coffee.
The only criteria for becoming a FFS team member is this: you must be a coffee farmer.
Before starting the first field school, the Coffee Scouts held a meeting on each of the hills that we collect coffee from, asking the coffee farming communities in these regions if they were interested in creating model coffee farms. Those who wanted to join were trained in best agricultural practices and every week since then have been meeting up on a host coffee farm.
Gervais Ngendabanka, a Bukeye Farmer Field School team member, about to prune his coffee trees.
Together, they get stuck in helping with the farming activities that need to be done on the host farm that day: from planting to pruning, fertilizing, weeding, spraying, mulching, scouting for antestia bugs, and restoring soil health. It’s not just the Farmer Field School team members who can take part; anyone from the farming community can join them to observe, ask questions, share ideas, problem-solve, and learn from what’s happening on these host farms.
“I started growing coffee in 1995, but I only started pruning my trees five years ago when I heard about it from the Coffee Scouts. Pruning is very important! It has helped to increase the quantity of cherries my coffee trees produce. I’ve also heard that it increases the quality of the coffee, but I don’t know much about that. Pruning is also hard because you have to wait three years until the trees start producing cherries again.” – Odule Manirakiza, Bukeye FFS team member from Gaharo hill.
A group of Farmer Field School team members from Bukeye.
Since the first field school started back in 2015, the team members have planted coffee trees, nitrogen-fixing plants, green manures, a mix of indigenous plants, and shade trees on their farms. Between 2015-2017, the 287 FFS members spread between Bukeye and Heza Washing Station have doubled their yield of coffee cherry production. The Bukeye FFS team members have seen an increase in yield of coffee cherry from 1kg to 2.1kg per tree, while the Heza FFS team members have seen an increase from 1.5kg to 3kg per tree.
Unfortunately, in 2019, there was a noticeable decline in the FFS team members’ cherry production due to the limited access to fertilizer in the country, and the compounding effect of climate change.
Selectively hand-picking coffee cherries.
During the peak of coffee harvest in Burundi, the FFS team members usually only meet once a week on a host farm to learn how to selectively hand-pick, float, and sort coffee cherries at home before delivering them to the nearest Long Miles Washing Station. In 2020, it was observed that because most of the FFS team members had developed these practices, they didn’t need to spend any unnecessary time at our washing stations re-sorting their cherries for quality.
Up until now, these FFS lots have been processed together with the ~5,500 farming families who deliver to our Long Miles Washing Stations. 2020 was the first year that we’ve collected and processed FFS lots separately to see if the team members’ training and collective efforts have also made a difference in the quality of their coffee on the cupping table.
According to our quality assurance team, at 86.5, the average cup score for FFS lots was almost exactly the same as the average cup score for non-FFS lots. A statistic that stood out as markedly different, however, was the percentage of lots that were not deemed to be micro-lot quality. When our team scores day lots, they need to make a fairly quick assessment of a large number of coffees. For our purposes, the most important quality cutoff point is 86. Coffees that score below 86 points get blended into our “Hills” lots. Coffees that score above 86 get sold as micro-lot quality. Of the non-FFS lots produced in 2020, ~19% did not meet our quality standards to be sold as micro-lot quality coffee. For FFS lots, however, this number was only ~17%. While two percent is small, it is not statistically insignificant as it represents hundreds of pounds of finished green coffee.
However, if we were to focus solely on the improvement of a coffee’s cup score as the main outcome of FFS, we would fall short of the very reason for its existence. Farmer Field School is not just about growing quality Burundi coffee; it’s about the practice of showing up every week. It’s a commitment from farmers to learn from, listen to, and exchange ideas with each other on which farming practices are most effective. It’s about asking questions like, “Have the farming practices we use made a notable impact on the productivity of our coffee trees; on the biodiversity of our coffee farms; on soil health?”
Partially stumped coffee tree.
Although the idea of running a Farmer Field School was initiated by Epa and facilitated by the Coffee Scouts, the farmers involved have taken full ownership of the field school and its activities.
“In 2017, I stumped all of the coffee trees on my farm. Then, in 2020, I harvested double the yield of cherry that I used to get before pruning. The Coffee Scouts have helped me to understand the different ways of taking care of my coffee farms. I remember the first time they told me to stump my coffee trees, because they are old. In my heart I was thinking, “These young people don’t know what they’re saying. Cutting down coffee trees? No way!” But now, I’m encouraging other farmers to do the same thing.” – Firmin Niyibizi, Bukeye FFS team member from Gaharo hill.
In my heart I was thinking, “These young people don’t know what they’re saying. Cutting down coffee trees? No way!”
Farmer Field School has encouraged these communities to continue growing coffee; to not give up hope despite the incredible challenges that they have faced in the past and may continue to face in the future. It has also empowered the communities of coffee farmers we partner with to work together in teams rather than in isolation; to continue to share ideas and use the farming practices that are most effective in improving the productivity of Burundi coffee.
