In 2019, Emmanuel (BAHO Coffee) presented to Semilla (green trader) a few lots that were processed through the Fugi washing station but had been traced back to specific hills. As this was something Semilla never seen before in Rwanda, it was, of course, super compelling and kickstarted our discussions on how we could expand and deepen this type of traceability.
From Semilla:
"As buyers, it’s always exciting to find more information about where coffee is coming from, but for Baho, this is also very helpful, as it gives the opportunity to directly support producers and hopefully motivate them to continue selling to specialty stations. We expected to see a few lots with this level of increased traceability for this harvest, but Emmanuel surprised us by bringing forth an entire container’s worth of these types of lots! On top of that, he took the further step of not only building these lots around geographic regions but also around specific groups of people.
The Fugi Ikizere group is exactly that, and a project we are incredibly thrilled to be able to support and offer to the North American market. In short, this group is made up of single mothers, many of whom are widowed, and face the difficult task of navigating a Rwandese society that still struggles with much patriarchal discrimination. The Ikizere lots were our highest-paid coffees at the farm gate level, at about 50% over the national average.
To make an even deeper impact with these coffees, Emmanuel asked the women of Ikizere to also de-pulp their coffees by hand together so that they could connect and bond over the similar difficulties they faced.
While manual de-pulping may sound incredibly time-consuming and difficult (it is!), this is a traditional method of coffee processing in Rwanda. Before the development of washing stations, and even to some extent now, many producers would manually depulp their coffee and sell it in this wet state to intermediaries. This coffee would be marketed as “semi-washed” coffee, and often was of lower quality due to the poor processing procedures. As such, we were a bit skeptical of the quality of these coffees when Emmanuel explained his plan to us, but were pleasantly surprised to see that the rigorous quality controls within the Fugi washing station resulted in super delicious coffees."
Here’s a little of what Emmanuel had to say about this group: “Ikizere women's coffee is composed of women of the same identity (single mothers, heads of families). The reasons why they are single mothers may differ, but all people in this category face many social and economic challenges due to traditional perceptions.
We decided to bring these women together through coffee, and revive their hope by showing them that we consider them as part of the community and they are equally needed, important, and valued like any other person, regardless of their struggle, social and economic situation. It is a group that started in 2020, is now well organized and has elected leadership to coordinate activities.
We decided to use the traditional method of coffee pulping to create an emotional, closer relationship with this lot and the owners. It takes time to do such a method, and this helped these women to talk, discuss much about their lives, coffee, and issues, and exchange ideas to overcome those issues. The time spent together pulping coffee was crucial and practically important in building their social relationship.
Recognition was one step, but we also want to advocate for them and sell their coffee to buyers who care about people, humanity, and equality. With income from this coffee, Baho promised these women that they would receive the highest price for cherries in the country.”
Process:
Upon delivery, their coffee cherries were carefully weighed and documented to maintain full traceability. Following initial sorting, flotation was conducted to distinguish dense cherries from lighter ones. The selected cherries were then transferred into plastic tanks for dry fermentation, which lasted eight hours before pulping. After pulping, the parchment underwent approximately ten hours of wet fermentation in larger fermentation channels. Once washing was completed, the coffee entered a 27-day drying phase characterized by rigorous quality control. Throughout drying, workers consistently hand-sorted to eliminate visible defects. Moisture content was closely supervised to avoid mold development and ensure an even drying progression. This controlled approach allowed the beans to reach ideal stability, supporting desirable cup quality and flavor development.
