PHILOCOFFEA 251 RWANDA DukundeKawa Ruli 1704 Soil project

＜DukundeKawa Ruli＞
The Dukunde Kawa Musasa Cooperative is a cooperative established in 2000 in the Gakanke District in northern Rwanda. The cooperative has about 300 members, about 20 percent of whom are women farmers. We are passionate about producing coffee in the natural environment near the mountain gorillas. The cooperative operates three washing stations, including the Lishui Station which began operations in 2004. Cherries collected from 824 farmers are carefully refined on 167 hectares of land. The high rainfall in the region allows the coffee beans to grow slowly, resulting in cherries that are firm and flavorful.
The average farmer owns about 200 coffee trees. The trees are planted 2 to 2.5 meters apart, with about 2,500 trees per hectare. The harvested cherries are thoroughly managed using the latest equipment and divided into small batches according to harvest date, ensuring a consistently high quality. Musasa District is the former home of the Mibambwe Kings and farmers in the area continue the tradition of offering coffee seeds to the Kings in the hope of success in the upcoming season. This tradition and local pride supports the passionate efforts of our farmers.
Dukunde Kawa received Fairtrade certification in 2005 and won second place in the Rwanda COE in 2010. To produce high-quality Bourbon coffee, farmers and CWS work together to thoroughly manage each process, including sorting, washing, fermentation and drying.

<Soil Project (Coffee Compost Project)>
SOIL PROJECT is a sustainable initiative to support coffee production in Rwanda, a collaboration between ONIBUS COFFEE and Dukunde Kawa Musasa Cooperative. Our goal is to improve soil and increase biodiversity by producing organic compost from coffee cherry pulp. This compost is recycled by farmers and helps improve the quality and yield of their coffee. In 2024, the first Project Soil plot using compost was completed, with farmers assessing improvements in soil and crop health. Please enjoy the taste of coffee produced by this project.

This time I finished it with a light roast. Since the moisture content was low at 8.6%, I set the feed temperature a bit lower than normal and heated it gently. Additionally, the temperature of the beans will drop after the first batch, so we take a development time of about 1:10 to ensure proper development while maintaining heat. (In Rwanda and Kenya, it was difficult to observe the behavior of this goby later and think about the balance of overall firepower (fun))

When first brewed, the refreshing sourness of the Satsuma mandarin spreads in your mouth. After it cools down a bit, you can taste the sweetness of brown sugar and plums, which is sweet and sour. This is a warm, mild and delicious cup of coffee. In addition, the lingering scent of herbal tea is unique to Rwanda and is my favorite. As I drank it, I thought about the new crop season in Rwanda and finished it quickly. This is a well-balanced light roast coffee that will have you wanting to take a few sips, and before you know it, you’ll be seeing the bottom.

Healthy soil produces delicious coffee. Through the soil project, the soil will become more fertile, producing better coffee next year and the year after. I would be very happy if you could follow the progress of this project and share your interest in the future of Rwandan coffee.