Coffee of the survivors of Nyamukubi (part 2)
26-12-2024Written by Merveille Kakule Saliboko, communications consultant
In May 2023, the territory of Kalehe, east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, was hit hard by the natural disaster at Nyamukubi. The hardest hit was the Kalehe Arabica Coffee Cooperative, KACCO, which produces specialty arabica coffee and is supported by AGRITERRA as part of the TRIDE project, Transition for Inclusive Development in Eastern DRC. Thanks to the efforts of this project, funded by the Kingdom of the Netherlands, KACCO's member coffee growers are recovering from the horrors of the disaster, a year and a half on.
June 2024, the faces are all in good spirits. In Nyamukubi, the cooperative is preparing to ship coffee. For the rebirth, and for the cause that brought me to Nyamukubi a year after the disaster, there is joy on everyone's faces when we talk about the future. But how can you talk about the future without talking about the present? The present becomes less painful with the sale of coffee. KEYNOTE has placed an order for half a container of Arabica coffee, especially from the survivors of the disaster. KEYNOTE is a UK-based company with a particular interest in specialty coffee.
Coffee brings hope
‘We received a visit from KEYNOTE and when they arrived here, they thought it would be better to buy the produce made by the women. They found people who had lost their children, their wives, and their husbands, and they thought it best to help these families by buying their coffee. That's how KEYNOTE came to buy half a container at a price that will relieve the members of the KACCO cooperative, and that has created a buzz among the women in the cooperative’, says Pascal.
Pascal Mulomeodherwa Mulimbanya, managing director of KACCO
Buying coffee to relieve the suffering of the survivors is the right formula. ‘That's how this stock here is reserved for KEYNOTE. The coffee will be taken to Goma for unpacking. After that, it will be sent to KEYNOTE’, says the managing director of KACCO. If this company hadn't come to buy our coffee, we wouldn't still be alive. It's thanks to the money we get from our coffee that we can survive. For example, after my husband died, I went to live in the camp. I earn money from the coffee plants I planted,’ exclaims Neema.
Neema Mwakalembe was affected by the disaster
‘KEYNOTE should not stop buying our coffee. On the small piece of land I have left, I harvest coffee and KEYNOTE buys it. This allows us to take the children to school and buy them clothes,’ adds Alphonsine.
Alphonsine sells her coffee to KEYNOTE
Quality coffee thanks to Agriterra training
And for the survivors of Nyamukubi, the quality will be there in the cup when KEYNOTE customers taste this coffee. ‘KEYNOTE customers will realize that Nyamukubi coffee is quality coffee. We have done everything possible to ensure that this coffee is the best they have ever tasted. We set to work processing our coffee. In Nyamukubi, there is good quality coffee’, says Alphonsine. Neema adds: ‘The women know how to process coffee very well. It's a specialty coffee. This quality is the result of the training provided by Agriterra.’
‘I praise the KACCO and Agriterra partnership. Previously, with my 1,200 coffee plants, I estimated my production at between 2,000 and 2,200 kilos. But now I'm up to around 2800kg. We're putting into practice everything we've learned during the training course. I'm convinced that next year I'm going to produce a lot more if this partnership continues’, says Henri.
Henri is happy with the partnership between KACCO and Agriterra
These productivity figures have convinced other coffee growers to follow suit and say ‘yes’ to the gospel of the cooperative. As Alphonsine explains: ‘Where the fields weren't swept away, people are still planting coffee. We have difficulty getting dressed and eating because of the disaster. But with the money from the sale of our coffee, we are going to send children to school and help those who have nothing. KEYNOTE should continue to buy our coffee and in large quantities. Because next season we're going to be producing a lot of coffee’.
As you can see, there is certainly the prospect of increasing production by putting into practice the agronomic package advocated in the G20 to attract more coffee growers. What also attracts them is the prospect of being able to sell their coffee at a remunerative price. ‘When KEYNOTE arrived, the women were very happy because KEYNOTE was the first buyer to come and sympathize with the women of Bushushu and Nyamukubi by buying their coffee,’ says the cooperative's managing director.
Buying coffee from the survivors means recognizing their efforts
Boosted by the good productivity of the coffee plants, and especially as other women coffee growers have joined the ranks, Neema believes that it is necessary to go beyond half a container: ‘As for our coffee that will go to Goma, I beg KEYNOTE to continue to buy our coffee. Because we can produce more than we're going to send them. If possible, KEYNOTE should also encourage other buyers to order our coffee’, she pleads.
The managing director agrees: ‘The women can produce even more than half a container. Here we have at least 14,000 kilograms that will be sent to Goma for distribution, reserved exclusively for KEYNOTE. Another part has already been sold and transferred to Goma, and it's still a women's production. The women of Bushushu and Nyamukubi can even produce two or three containers because they are determined.'
The people interviewed were full of praise for KEYNOTE. ‘I would like to thank KEYNOTE, which has undertaken to buy this coffee from the women who survived the natural disaster. This is the coffee of the Nyamukubi-Bushushu survivors. I'm telling KEYNOTE that we have a lot of women's coffee, and it's more than just half a container,’ pleads Pascal.
Before addressing potential buyers: ‘I'm also asking other buyers to follow in KEYNOTE's footsteps, to also come and buy coffee from the Nyamukubi-Bushushu survivors to help them rebuild their lives'. According to the managing director, ‘People are not stable now because everything was swept away by the disaster of 04 May 2023. The best way to help them is to buy their produce. The more they sell, the more they earn, and the more life goes on!'
