BURUNDI | RURONGE HILL LOT 62 | RED BOURBON | WASHED

High in Burundi’s Mumirwa region, 115 farmers brought their cherries together to create this single lot, led by farmer Ntungawnayo Sadoscale. Their coffee was processed at the Ruronge washing station, where careful fermentation, washing and slow drying helped turn a collective harvest into a distinctive specialty coffee.

The wider story is one of rebuilding opportunity through coffee. Migoti Coffee was founded in 2015 by engineers Pontien Ntunzwenimana and Dan Brose, with the aim of improving livelihoods by connecting Burundian farmers with international buyers through quality processing and transparent supply chains.

From a network of 310 farmers in 2019, Migoti has grown to work with more than 1,200. Alongside coffee production, it supports seedlings, farming education, alternative income opportunities and community water infrastructure. Ruronge Hill Lot 62 is a small part of that wider effort, bringing together the work of individual farmers and the value of a shared harvest.

After harvest, the cherries are taken to the Ibukikawa Cooperative’s Ruronge washing station. The supplier describes a full day of fermentation, followed by pulping and washing. The coffee is then pre-dried on tables in the shade for five days before being moved into the sun for a further three to four weeks of drying on raised beds.

Migoti Coffee works with more than 1,200 smallholder farmers and supports improved farming practices through training in pruning, intercropping and soil management. Its initiatives include distributing around 30,000 coffee seedlings annually, promoting shade trees and helping farmers improve soil stability.

The company has also introduced micro-financing to reduce reliance on costly cash advances and an essential oils programme that offers farmers another source of income between coffee harvests. A water reservoir and pipe network project near its Kinama washing station is intended to provide clean drinking water to more than 4,800 residents.