Tag: Ninga hill

The challenge of water at Ninga Washing Station

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.

July 9, 2021
What does building Ninga Washing Station mean for the future of coffee on Ninga hill?

“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!

March 24, 2021
Building Ninga, our third Long Miles Washing Station

In 2013, we built our first washing station, Bukeye, and produced our first bag of Burundi coffee. During that harvest season, the volume of coffee cherries getting delivered to Bukeye far outstripped our small washing station’s capacity to produce coffee. It turned out that coffee farming families were coming from far and wide, travelling more than three hours by foot over slippery and broken roads to reach Bukeye; a washing station with balanced scales that paid a fair price for coffee cherries.

Vincent Nyandwi is just one of many coffee farmers that we met last coffee harvest who had walked for hours to deliver his cherries. He had to choose between walking fifteen kilometers from his home to reach Bukeye Washing Station, or five kilometers to our small cherry collection point…all while carrying a forty kilogram bag of coffee cherries on his back.

Vincent Nyandwi, a Burundian coffee farmer

The dedication of coffee farmers like Vincent to producing quality coffee stood out to our team, both in the field and on the cupping table. Every year since then, we have been trying to bring a washing station closer to these rural farming communities.

“Ninga was one of the first hills that we visited before founding Long Miles and deciding to build our own washing station[s]. After visiting the region, we fell in love with the coffee’s flavor profile on the cupping table. Building a washing station on Ninga hill would open up the possibility of working with over 2,000 neighboring coffee growing families who, up until now, have had to walk for kilometers to reach the nearest washing station. Ninga’s proximity to the Kibira Forest also opened up the opportunity to plant green belts of trees extending from the forest to the hill, helping to improve soil health and encouraging the practice of shade-grown coffee.” – Ben Carlson, co-founder of Long Miles Coffee.

Having a washing station closer to Ninga hill means that coffee farmers will be able to spend less time travelling to deliver their cherries after the many hours spent harvesting them. The time between cherry picking and then cherry processing will also be shortened; a helpful step towards improving the coffee’s quality. Ninga Washing Station will help us to build long-term relationships with coffee farming families in the region, provide neighboring communities with job opportunities and the access to farmer education.

In 2017, we bought a piece of land seated at 1900 masl, a fifteen kilometer drive from our Bukeye Washing Station. The land is flanked by the Nkokoma River, which means that fresh water will run through the McKinnon to pulp and wash the coffee parchment. Little did we know that significant changes in the country’s coffee regulatory board that year would cause a delay in the build out of the washing station.

It took us close to three years to check off all the necessary paperwork and cross the bureaucratic red tape in order to start producing coffee at our Ninga Washing Station site. With the opening of coffee harvest in April and forty-five newly built drying tables, we started producing the first natural processed micro-lots of the season.

During the natural process, coffee cherries are floated and hand-sorted after being delivered by coffee farmers to the washing station site, then taken straight to the drying tables. The whole coffee cherry spends between twenty-five to thirty days drying in its skin (depending on the weather), slowly turning from deep red to a prune-like purple-black color until fully dry; reaching the ideal 10.5% moisture level.

This coffee harvest, some farming families from Ninga hill continued to deliver their cherries to Bukeye Washing Station. These cherries were processed as both fully washed and natural micro-lots at Bukeye. Other families who grow their coffee in the same region decided to deliver their harvest to our new Ninga Washing Station site. These cherries were processed as sundried naturals. Come next year’s coffee harvest, all of the cherries grown and harvested on Ninga hill will be processed at Ninga Washing Station.

You might notice that two new coffees have been added to our fold this year: Bumba and Giku hill. These coffees were processed as sundried naturals at our Ninga Washing Station site along with the coffee cherries from Ninga hill that were delivered there.

It takes a lot of time, resources and people to build a washing station in Burundi. It’s our hope to see Ninga Washing Station built to completion in time for next year’s coffee harvest season.

The next time that you find a bag of roasted Ninga, Bumba or Giku coffee, drink a cup at your favorite local café or brew one of these coffees at home, please let us know! We would love to hear what you think.

August 7, 2020

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