Written by Robyn-Leigh van Laren, Story Manager at Long Miles Coffee.
For decades, farming coffee has been considered as a “man’s job”. This is not just the case in Burundi, but the world over. According to the most recent data collected by the World Bank, women make up just over half of Burundi’s population. Some sources say that women make up more than half of the country’s agricultural labor force.
But, any number or statistic without context can be misleading. We could list the number of women that we work with, but what would that number mean in a greater context? It certainly wouldn’t be representative of the global coffee industry, let alone the coffee industry in Burundi. Women are without a doubt significant contributors to the coffee sector in Burundi, but are underrepresented in leadership, decision and policy-making roles.
“In the rural parts of Burundi, women are working more than men. You can often see the men, but the women are hidden from view while managing many other tasks.” – Joy Mavugo
Women in Burundi work a multitude of jobs. One could go as far to say that they have a disproportionate number of roles and responsibilities. Generally, women who are producing coffee are also managing households, raising children, growing and harvesting subsistence crops to either cook or sell at the local market. Some of these women are also taking up seasonal jobs at the coffee washing stations adjacent to their homes where they typically hand-pick coffee to make ends meet- a key but labor-intensive role that has a profound impact on coffee quality.
Not all women in agriculture feel empowered to take up the jobs that men tend to do. Even if they do feel empowered, there is no guarantee that they will be compensated at the same rate as men for their labor. Many people believe that women in coffee should be paid less because their labor is generally less intensive than men.
“Where are the women?”
When we hold meetings with our partnering coffee farmers, more men tend to gather than women. Why is that? Women are often busy with other farm work or household tasks. I would often look around at these meetings and ask, “Where are the women?” People would look up and chuckle at me, the mzungu who can’t wrap her head around the complexities of gender roles in Burundi. From what I’ve come to understand is that women aren’t always intentionally excluded but their often unaccounted for labor will mostly be laughed off because that’s how it’s always been.
Why are we doing this? It was one of the first questions that I wrote down when thinking of running a series celebrating women in coffee. When I asked my colleague Joy Mavugo this question, her response was, “You know, if we were doing a series on men in coffee, we wouldn’t stop to think about this question.”
“If we were doing a series on men in coffee, we wouldn’t stop to think about this.”
Her words stuck with me for weeks. Ironically, I couldn’t stop thinking about it, which is why we’ll be sharing and celebrating the stories of incredible women working in coffee over the next couple of weeks.
In our most recent blog post we presented a brief overview of the Dry Milling process; the final processing step before coffee is placed into bags, ready for export. In that post, we mentioned Hand Sorting as a critical and final stage in the Milling process. Whereas that last post was focused on the bullet point steps of the Dry Milling process, our aim in this post will be to focus more on the humanity behind the final Hand Sorting step.
These are, after all, human hands that are performing the Hand Sorting. We often think of the supply chain beginning with farmers, ending with consumers, and containing a few other agents in between (exporter, importer, roaster). While this is not inaccurate per se, it is also not nearly complete. The supply chain also contains coffee pickers, washing station staff, warehouse staff, truck drivers, ship operators, forklift operators, and -of course- hand sorters (to mention only a few). In fact, while the plight of coffee farmers is sincere and deserves our utmost attention, it could be argued that it is these less-visible individuals in the supply chain that are most in need of advocates. A farmer could, after all, get paid very well for their coffee, making for a great transparency report on the consumer side; meanwhile, the individuals that picked that coffee could have received an abysmal wage and terrible working conditions. Sadly, we can share that these things do happen around the coffee-producing world. Burundi, along with many other East African nations, is somewhat insulated from this by the very fact that the farmers growing the coffee are frequently also the individuals picking the cherries. That said, Burundi is not immune from inequities within the supply chain – far from it.
Before getting much further, we should address some basic facts surrounding Hand Sorting.
Firstly, why is it done? It does seem that the many, many stages the coffee passes through at the Dry Mill would be sufficient to clean the coffee. Between sorting by size, density, and finally optical color sorter, you would think the coffee could come out of the milling process amazingly clean. And it does – relatively speaking. When compared to the product that goes into the mill, the finished product is remarkably clean. That said, the standards surrounding physical defects in green coffee have gotten extremely strict for specialty buyers. Overall, this is a good thing. It leads to better-tasting coffee that is easier to roast evenly, and that stays tasting good for a long period of time. If Specialty Coffee is ever to succeed in its purported goals, these are really important qualities for the coffee to possess. As such, hand sorting is critical for getting the coffee as clean as possible.
In truth, the optical sorter could be used to greater effect, to the point of eliminating most of the need for hand sorters. The optical sorter has a programmable sensitivity. When a seed passes in front of the laser that is outside of the programmed range (either too light or too dark in color) a puff of air shoots the unwanted seed into a reject pile. The challenge is, if the optical sorter is set to such a sensitivity that everything coming out is directly ready for export, it will very likely have also taken out a lot of extra, good-quality coffee. Furthermore, when the puff of air dispenses with the unwanted seed, it is not so selective that it only removes one seed. The coffee is moving very fast in front of the laser and each puff of air removes quite a few seeds.
Secondly, who employs the hand sorters? The hand sorters are not Long Miles employees. They are employed by the Dry Mill, which we do not in any way own. While we are allowed to have staff there to direct and oversee the hand sorters, we do not set or pay their wages nor do we ultimately decide who gets work and who does not.
There are 335 people working as a part of the hand sorting team this year. 320 of them are women, 15 are men. All 320 women work in hand sorting. Three men work with them. Nine men work carrying bags and three men work supervising the hand sorters. Joy Mavugo, a Burundian and critical member of the Long Miles Burundi team says that there are more women doing this work because the other jobs available at the dry mill and elsewhere are too physically challenging. While there may be some truth to this, I will also share that, having spent a significant amount of time in many coffee-producing countries, it is no secret that women are the glue that binds within communities. Willing to take jobs that men find below them, women often support families through whatever means necessary. Hand sorting at Dry Mills seems to be one such job.
Recently, Joy spent time with the hand sorters as they worked; hearing their stories and asking them questions. Joy shared some background on two individuals in particular – Beatrice Nhimirimana and Melance Niyiragira.
Beatrice Nhimirimana is from Gitega, where the Dry Mill is located. She has been working as a hand sorter at the Dry Mill since 2019. Previously, her friends Alice and Yvonne were working as hand sorters and would ask if Beatrice was interested in joining them. She would always say no. Slowly, however, Beatrice noticed that he friends started to purchase livestock. They told her that the money came from their work as hand sorters. They said that they could use this money without asking permission from their husbands. Beatrice, who spends much of her year cultivating crops such as rice, beans, sweet potatoes, cassava, potatoes, and cabbage, never had spending money as the crops she grew were only for consumption, not for sale. Furthermore, at the beginning of the dry season, there is not much work for women because it is not time to harvest. As such, Beatrice decided to apply for work as a hand sorter and on her second attempt was given a job.
There are a number of things Beatrice likes about working in the Dry Mill. Firstly, she enjoys doing something apart from working in the fields. Secondly, she likes learning new skills. Thirdly, she enjoys spending time with so many people. Never before has she been with hundreds of people at a time. Finally, she enjoys earning her own money. Beatrice told us that, “after touching money, the thirst for it stays.”
The money Beatrice (pictured) has received from working at the dry mill has allowed her to support her family. Beyond this, the work is easier than her work cultivating crops in the field. In fact, this leads to the only issue in her eyes, “when the work at the mill is finished I go back to the fields and I need more energy. I lose it all sitting all day at the Dry Mill.”
The current pay for hand sorters is 2,000 Burundian Franc per day (at the time of writing this blog post that is just under $1 USD). Beatrice told us that they need more money as everything is getting more expensive. On the other hand, she prefers to make this money rather than stop working. Beatrice told us that she believes she will have many days of work as she has never seen sch a large harvest in her life.
We also spoke with Melance Niyiragira. Melance told us that, “hand picking is for women because it doesn’t require much energy.” He has been working at the mill since 2006. Back then he was carrying coffee bags. He did this work for many years, but the heavy bags (60kg each!) began to cause pains in his chest, pains that continue to this day. He needs this work to survive, but he was not shy in telling us that it makes him uncomfortable spending days sitting with women.
Gender seems to be a particularly complex topic in Burundian culture. In truth, it is a topic that I (David Stallings) struggle to feel confident/comfortable writing about. Not because the topic makes me uncomfortable – in any way. Rather, I am a white, cisgender male and acutely aware of the fact that it is exactly that demographic that has so disastrously and wrongfully dictated/written history. I do not want to shy away from the statements above that delineate gender roles even though I know they can be uncomfortable to read, nor do I want to express them in a way that makes it seem that I/Long Miles share these perspectives. In talking about this with Joy Mavugo, she tells me that it is as much a class issue as it is a gender issue. That educated Burundian women “know the truth, they know how to fight for their rights,” and that for them, “there is no limit – they are in all industries, in the government, they are leaders.” For those women who are not educated, however, Joy says that “they are excluded from many things as they live in the culture of an older generation that believes the family wealth belongs to the men.”
It would be wonderful to have Joy write a post on this topic. She is an amazingly insightful and intelligent individual who has a great perspective on life in Burundi. If this is something you would be interested in reading, or if you have any thoughts on/questions about this post, please email info@longmilescoffee.com or comment below!
As the coffee cherry coming into our Burundi washing stations slows to a veritable trickle, we enter into the less talked about, less photographed, and less glamorous portion of the season: Dry Milling. Dry Milling is the final stage the coffee passes through before it is packed into bags, ready for loading into a container. While this portion of the season is seldom discussed in any public-facing manner, Dry Milling is actually an incredibly important step in producing top-quality coffee. We’ve paid homage to the importance of drying in previous blog posts (another seldom discussed, hugely important aspect of coffee processing), and we’ve discussed coffee processing in detail (including a deep dive into fermentation) in other posts, so it is fitting that we now take the time to show respect to this final processing step.
Parchment Coffee nearly ready to be removed from the drying tables.
It is only once the coffee is completely dried, placed in temporary bags, and stored in one of our warehouses (each washing station has one) that we are able to begin organizing a coffee’s Dry Milling program. Once a Day Lot of coffee is properly dried – and verified as such by water activity readings taken in our Bujumbura lab – we are able to decide if that Day Lot will be Dry Milled and exported on its own, or combined with other Day Lots from the same hill to form a micro-lot. As many Day Lots are too small to be milled and exported on their own, it is very common for combinations to take place.
After it is known which other Day Lots a coffee will be blended with, or if it will be milled on its own, the coffee is trucked to the Dry Mill. Coffee accumulates at the Dry Mill until a critical mass is reached and we are able to submit a milling program.
Removing the Parchment/Husk
The most fundamental process taking place at the Dry Mill is the removal of a coffee’s parchment layer. The parchment layer is a thick, protective husk that surrounds the seed. It is critical that the parchment remain intact throughout the drying process, as this helps to ensure a more even drying. That said, there is significantly more that takes place at the Dry Mill than the simple removal of this husk.
After the parchment has been peeled off the coffee, you are left with a relatively unclean product. The remaining steps in the Dry Milling process refine this to something that we recognize as clean, top-quality green (raw, unroasted) coffee.
Sorting by Size
Nearly all coffee-producing countries have standards relating to seed size and their top-quality coffees. In Burundi, all coffees that are exported as the highest quality are screen 15+. When talking about screen sizes, the numbers refer to 64ths of an inch. As such, in Burundi, top-quality lots must have a screen size of 15/64ths of an inch and above.
The exception to this is peaberry (aka PB) lots. Inside of a typical coffee cherry, one finds two seeds. Due to the way in which the seeds develop inside the round fruit, there is a flat side to each seed – this is where the two seeds meet inside the fruit. Peaberries are the result of coffee cherries in which one of the seeds aborted early in the development process. The result is one, often small, round seed. PB lots are sold as top quality but are often primarily comprised of seeds small than screen 15.
Clean, Screen 15+ prior to hand sorting.Screen 14Screen 12
Screen 14 and 12, pictured above, are bulked together and thoroughly hand sorted (see below) in order to produce the aforementioned PB lots.
Sorting by Density
Another step in quality separation is density sorting. This is done on an angled, vibrating table that shoots puffs of air up through the mass of coffee on the table’s surface (think: air-hockey table). This process forces the higher-density coffee to one side of the table and the lower-density coffee to the other. The higher-density coffee is of higher quality.
Density tables are also very effective at removing very dense objects such as screws and very light objects such as twigs – should either get this far in the process.
Finally, the coffee passes through an optical sorter. Optical sorters are incredibly impressive machines that use a laser to assess the color of each seed rapidly passing through its “line of sight.” The acceptable range of color is set by the operator and any seeds that are too dark or too pale are rejected by a puff of air forcing the seed into a reject pile.
Hand Sorting
After the Dry Milling equipment is done processing the coffee, there is a final quality control step: hand sorting of the coffee. Teams of individuals (very commonly women in much of the coffee-producing world), sort through all of the coffee by hand, removing any defects that slipped through the mill line. The hand pickers are not looking for one specific type of defect, but rather anything that should not be included in the final product. It is very common for our micro-lots to be hand-picked at least twice before export, to ensure that only the highest quality coffee is exported.
In a future post, we will dig further into what happens to all of the coffee that is not sold as micro-lot quality. If you enjoyed this post or have specific questions we would love to hear from you. Please email us!
All coffee gets sold, including this brisure (French for “broken”), the lowest grade that comes out of the mill.
There are a myriad of factors that can impact the flavors that end up in your cup of coffee. Influences on taste start with the growing environment, then processing, and end with roasting and brewing.
We can do very little to control the environment, so our focus is on how we process coffees from different regions in order to draw out, and not inhibit, their innate characteristics. We work with what the earth gives us and join hands with our roasting partners to all play a part in the final product. But before we get there, the environment has had her say – through altitude, climate, soil type, soil microbiome, and typography. Each of these factors differ not only from country to country, but region to region, and even hill to hill.
We know the coffee journey from cherry to cup is complex. Our aim is to honor the complexity of flavors inherent in each of the countries we operate in.
There is a tendency within the coffee industry to talk about Latin American coffees and East African coffees as two broad and distinct flavor profiles. This dichotomy typecasts coffees from Latin America as low acidity, less aromatic, and overall simple – whereas coffees from Africa are typecast as bright, complex, and oftentimes aggressive.
This way of thinking is a disservice to both Latin American and East African Coffees as both geographical areas produce an incredible variety of flavor profiles. Let’s dive into the broad flavor profiles of Burundi, Kenya, and Uganda – the three East African countries in which Long Miles is currently producing coffee.
FLAVORS OF BURUNDI
Of course we may be biased, but we believe that top quality lots from Burundi can present some of the most refined and complex coffees found anywhere.
Almost without exception, we find that these coffees tend to have a base reminiscent of black tea (as opposed to the chocolatey-bases found in coffees from some other regions).
The sweetness found in these coffees is comparable to molasses. Never nutty, top quality Burundi lots are defined by their fruited acidity. Some coffees possess distinct citrus and stone fruit character, while others tend toward cooked berries – sometimes even possessing a blackberry/black currant character, though never with the same intensity of acidity as a Kenyan coffee.
FLAVORS OF KENYA
Kenyan coffees exist in a class of their own. Known for their intensity of flavor, incredible sweetness, and bright acidity, coffees from Kenya tend to be favorites amongst coffee professionals.
Their unique structure is primarily related to their acidity. The acidity of a coffee so greatly affects the perceived sweetness of the coffee which, in turn, so greatly affects the perceived mouthfeel. The piquant acidity of a Kenyan coffee makes for a cup that is balanced by all of these characteristics being amplified.
Where does this intensity of flavor come from? There is no easy answer. It is likely an infinitely complex combination of factors including the SL varieties grown, the volcanic soil, the climate and processing – plus so much more.
What is clear, however, is that these are special coffees. Complex fruit characteristics ranging from cooked berries to tropical fruit can be found in the cup and many coffees possess floral aromatics. The most prized lots have a distinct blackberry character that is truly remarkable.
FLAVORS OF UGANDA
Like many coffees produced in the regions surrounding the African Great Lakes, Ugandan coffees tend to have a clear black tea-like base with a sweetness reminiscent of molasses.
The acidity in these coffees can be citric but is typically well integrated into the cup profile in a way that adds structure as opposed to being overt. The best lots we have tasted have a cooked, dark berry character similar to some Kenyan coffees.
During every single harvest we are faced with unwelcome surprises.
Whether we are blindsided by a drought, a coup attempt, ill-timed rains, a fuel shortage, or a demanding new government policy; we have learned to expect the unexpected. And yet, 2021 has been able to present some challenges that still feel shocking. The 2021 harvest brought three very big surprises in Burundi: a small crop, a new government policy, and unbelievable shipping challenges.
You could say that the small crop should not have been a surprise. It is, after all, the third harvest in a row that has produced dismal yields. That is, however, exactly why it was such a surprise and here’s why.
Twenty-eighteen was a very large harvest in Burundi. Following natural plant cycles, a small harvest in 2019 was expected as it is not uncommon for coffee plants to undergo boom and bust production cycles. Twenty-nineteen ended up being even smaller than expected – much smaller. Twenty-twenty was expected to rebound to a more “normal” production volume. This did not, however, happen. This is very likely due to the shifting climate and the fact that Burundi more or less experienced rain when it typically does not, and did not get rain when it typically does. Much of the coffee on the trees that year went from green to brown without ever having a chance to ripen.
With two low production years under our belts, 2021 was expected to be a year of good volume. The season started very late, and very slow. As coffee cherry trickled into the three Long Miles washing stations, hopes remained high for a year of decent volume as the climate was more or less cooperating.
But, the large volumes simply never came in.
This was, like the prior years, a national phenomenon; all of Long Miles’ neighbors and friends experienced the same thing. Simply put, there was very little coffee. The most heartbreaking statistic we recognized this season is the fact that the 2019, 2020, and 2021 seasons added together, do not match the volume that we produced in 2018 alone.
The second big shock of the year came in the form of a new policy set in place by the Burundi government.
Just as we were in the process of exporting our first container of the year, a new policy made it such that all coffee must be paid in full before it could be loaded into a container.
This may sound small and simple enough, but simply put, it is not how this type of business is/has been done. Getting financial institutions to quickly pivot on how six figure transactions are handled is no easy task. Especially at a time when risk analysts are seemingly much more hesitant than in recent years. We are very grateful to our importing partners who have been able to be nimble and make exceptions to how business is normally done in order to get coffee moving.
Lastly, there is the current state of the shipping industry. Most people are now aware because of the contents of their grocers shelves that shipping and logistics have been a nightmare for the past sixteen months or so. It is no surprise that everyone in coffee exporting/importing has been experiencing these challenges first hand. East Africa, in general – and Burundi, specifically – is never a logistics cakewalk.
Last year, a normal quote from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania to New York would be somewhere around $1,200 per container. This year we have seen quotes above $13,000 – and these are not even guaranteed shipments.
Despite these challenges, the quality produced this year was some of our best ever. The first USA-bound container is currently in a bonded warehouse in Dar as Salaam, waiting to be put on a ship. We are moving as quickly as possible to get the next three containers moving, as well.
The next container to move will be heading to Antwerp and the remaining two will go to the States. While most of the coffee is pre-sold, having been committed to partners with long-term agreements and contracts, we welcome you to reach out to david@longmilescoffee.com or info@longmilesscoffee.com to discuss next year and also our Kenya and Uganda offerings. The 2022 harvest flowering (that just took place in Burundi) is looking very promising. Add to this our projects taking off in Kenya and Uganda and we are hopeful that in the very near future we will have more than enough coffee for all of our partners. Please stay with us and please stay in touch.
Joy joined Long Miles in 2018, and has been an invaluable member of the Story Team ever since. With a background in public health, she uses every opportunity to share what she’s learned with partner farmers while listening to, and finding ways to share their stories.
What is your earliest memory of coffee?
I grew up seeing coffee being groundin our house because it is my dad’s favorite drink, but I had no idea of where coffee came from. In primary school, I learned that in Burundi we have industrial or export crops that brings foreign currency into the country. At that time, it was cotton, tea, and coffee. Something that confused me was hearing that coffee brings foreign currency into the country, meanwhile my dad was buying it in Burundian francs. But, as I was still a child, I didn’t ask.
How and when did you get involved in the coffee industry?
When I heard about Ben and Kristy [Carlson], before meeting them, I had been told that they are in coffee business. In my mind, being in the “coffee business” was the shops where people used to meet for coffee, places like Café Gourmand in Bujumbura, and other places like that. As I mentioned, I didn’t know anything about coffee apart from seeing my dad drink it. I never thought about working in coffee.
In 2016, during coffee harvest, the Carlsons took me with to visit Bukeye Washing Station. There were two things that surprised me that first time visiting a washing station. One, was seeing so many people working there. Second, was seeing cherries. When they told me that it was coffee, the first question that came to mind was, “Are there two kinds of coffee?” This was the comparison I was making between coffee in the cup (the one I used to see my dad drink, and in the coffee shops), and coffee cherries at the selection tables.
There were a couple of reasons that pushed me to work in coffee. Coffee connects different people from different cultures, different countries, and different continents. Coffee is people. This is the reason that I was interested to learn more about coffee, and is something that I am now proud to be a part of. Of course, there are still many, many things to learn in coffee, but at least today I can help somebody to understand coffee out of the cup.
The second reason that pushed me to work in coffee is to help others withmy degree in Public Health.I thought maybe there are people who need my help, especially in upcountry Burundi where many people don’t have access to information like they do in the city.
What is your role in the coffee supply chain?
I started working in coffee in 2018. My role is to listen to, collect, and share farmers’ stories. Working in coffee means a lot to me. I am working in the Story Team, and we are in communications. Together, we are helping the world understand the story of coffee: its origin, who grows it, what growing coffee looks like, what a coffee farm is like, what happens to coffee at the washing station, what the next step is after processing it at the washing station…
I don’t use my background in public health every day, but there are always opportunities to do it. I have many examples, but I’ll just share one:
I visited a coffee farmer on Gaharo Hill, and during the interview they explained the challenges farmers face, one of them being malaria. Both her husband and baby were sick with malaria at the time. While she was talking, I saw that in front of her house, there was a small farm of vegetables covered with a mosquito net. During our conversation, I asked why the mosquito net was covering the vegetables. She said that it prevented the chickens from eating the leaves. I asked her if she knows the cause of malaria, to which she replied, “It’s mangoes”. I asked her, why mangoes? “Because many people get malaria when it’s mango season”.
I took the time to explain the actual causes of malaria, that mosquitoes are prevalent during mango season because of the rains during that time of year, and how to prevent malaria. It was a really valuable discussion!
Apart from growing coffee, farmers are growing other crops that are good for their health, but don’t always eat them. Through the interviewing process, I’ve been able to help them to understand the relationship between food and health.
Are there any challenges that you think exclude women from working in coffee?
There are no challenges that exclude women from working in coffee. The problem is the lack of information, or having access to false information. For example, women farmers have repeatedly heard something that’s not true, which is that “coffee is for men”. Other women farmers know that coffee can be prepared as a drink, but don’t know that there are many other things to do in coffee. Sometimes, women in Burundi don’t have enough time to research as men do.
When you consider the coffee industry, do you think that women are empowered to be in leadership and decision-making roles?
In the coffee industry the number of women must be less than men, but those women who are there are empowered to be in leadership and decision-making roles.
Is there anything that you would like to learn or do to further your understanding of how coffee is produced or processed?
I would like to improve my photography skills, and how to share information on social media.
Earlier this past summer, Grant Gamble of Culture Coffee Project reached out to us asking if we would like to contribute to a new project that he had somewhat recently launched with Suneal Pabari. Seasoned pros, Grant has put on countless well-known and well-attended coffee events, and Suneal is one of the founders of The Roasters Pack. Fittingly, their brainchild, Leaderboard Coffee, is a coffee subscription- of sorts. Yes, it is a curated selection of ten unlabelled (intended to be tasted blind) coffees you receive in the mail, but Leaderboard has the look and feel of a coffee event- a really fun and educational one at that.
Designed for both coffee enthusiasts and coffee professionals, Leaderboard, “…believe[s] that learning about coffee should be fun, not intimidating.” While receiving ten unlabelled coffees to taste side-by-side is a hugely educational process in itself, Suneal and Grant have gone even further. Firstly, they have created a quiz that has an interface based on the concept of a “real-life-video-game,” and secondly, they have connected with coffee professionals around the globe to create content that helps the players of Leaderboard better identify the coffees they are tasting.
“…learning about coffee should be fun, not intimidating.”
It was for this reason that Grant reached out to us. Ben Carlson, co-founder of Long Miles, along with David Stallings, who handles Roaster Relations for Long Miles, together created a thirty-three minute long video for Leaderboard. In the video, Ben dives into the history of coffee production in Burundi, and David talks about tasting coffees from the Great Lakes region of East Africa, generally and Burundi coffee, more specifically.
Watch the video below, and definitely check out Leaderboard! If you are interested in expanding your coffee palate and learning more about coffee producing countries, processing methods, coffee varieties, and more, Leaderboard is an amazing and fun resource!
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.
Asterie has been a part of the Long Miles Coffee team since 2016. She first joined as a Coffee Scout, and six years later is leading the Heza Coffee Scout team.
What is your earliest memory of coffee?
My earliest memory is the joy that I experienced when I got a job in coffee. I grew up hearing that it’s not “normal” for a woman to work in the coffee sector, and that coffee is for men.
How did you get involved in coffee?
I started working in the coffee sector in 2016. At the time, Long Miles was looking for people to join their team of Coffee Scouts. I wrote a test, and came out on top. I was a Coffee Scouts for two years, and was then promoted as a supervisor of the Coffee Scouts.
What is your role in the coffee supply chain?
My job is to plan and supervise all of the Coffee Scout’s activities that are happening on the coffee farms. I spend all of my time with the team of Coffee Scouts and partnering farmers.
What does a ‘’typical day’’ look like for you?
As a mother, the first thing that I do every day is spending time with my children and feeding them. Then I go to work, and after work I have to prepare supper and spend time with my children.
Asterie with the Heza Coffee Scouts
What does working in coffee mean to you?
To me, it means that coffee is for everyone- it’s not just limited to men.
Are there any challenges that exclude women from working in coffee?
In Burundi, men often have the interpretation that women are not able, but we are able. One challenge is that during coffee harvest the team work longer hours than off-season, which is not possible for women living upcountry. We’re still caught up in a kind of “prison culture”. A woman living outside of the city is still expected to harvest crops and prepare meals, even if her husband is around. If you’re out of your house after 7pm, you can be considered as a woman who “took the place of a man” in the house. When we work less hours than men, it doesn’t mean that we’re not able but have to continue with other activities at home.
When you consider the coffee industry, do you think that women are empowered to be in leadership and decision-making roles?
Yes. At Long Miles, women are represented but when I look around my neighborhood, women are considered as people of the kitchen or valleys (where people have to look for food). Coffee is considered to be a crop for men because it brings money, and where there is money there is a place for decision-making…and women aren’t considered able to make these kinds of decisions.
What does gender equity in coffee look like?
This is hard for me to say because I’ve never worked for anyone other than Long Miles. The only thing that I can say is that gender equality looks like women being represented in every team. If you compare the number of men and women working in coffee, men outnumber women. I think this happens because when companies are looking for workers, women are often busy with other work so they miss out on the information but the men are always there.
Is there anyone in the coffee industry who inspires you?
I don’t know, I haven’t thought about it.
Is there anything that you would like to learn or do to further your understanding of coffee?
I have learned many things about how to take care of coffee farms, and I know a bit about cherry processing but I still want to learn more about processing parchment coffee.
