Coffee Origins: Burundi
Reiko Piekarski, Director of Coffee Programs | Fortuna Enterprises, LLC
The Dark Side of Burundi
The deep and conflicted history of Burundi cannot be told without mentioning Rwanda, as the development of these two nations are folded together. In what was once considered a territory of the African Great Lakes region, Ruanda-Urundi was ruled under a colony called German East Africa. European influence and control over the area began in 1884 and included 6 territories known today as Burundi, Cameroon, Namibia, Rwanda, Tanzania and Togo. At this time Carl Peter's establishment of the German East African Trade Company expanded access to resources in the east African areas in an effort to supply the ever-growing industrial needs of Europe at the time.
After their defeat in World War I, the German-controlled colonies were divided between Britain, Belgium and Portugal by what once was The League of Nations. The new order declared Belgium would take charge of the two territories in 1922. Despite the change in management, Germany still held a strong interest in promoting economic growth and commerce. The key was the ever-increasing demand for coffee with the recent boom of the coffeehouse culture in Europe. European colonists introduced coffee plants to the Ruanda-Urundi territories in the 1930s. Around two million trees were planted and each landowner was required to tend to at least 50 coffee plants.
When World War II came to an end, it was made clear that the League of Nations was unsuccessful in developing peace and unity among countries. The United Nations would succeed them and carry on the purpose that the League had intended to fulfill, including the continued delegation of the African colonies. By this point, the cultivation of coffee left a negative impact on the people of Burundi; as it was a harsh reminder of what the colonial rulers in Belgium had capitalized on at the expense of their livelihoods. Coffee plants were destroyed as the civil unrest began to build in the 1960s and the economy began to slip. The Ruanda-Urundi territories had also evolved into separate states and sought to gain independence from their colonial oppressors. In July of 1962, the two Belgian-run colonies were emancipated and became what we know today as Rwanda and Burundi.
Independence, however, brought upon the two countries' monarchies and dictatorial rulers under a new Republic. Coffee farmers resented the idea of continued coffee production even though they had become dependent on the colonial crop. Then, in the early 1990’s, horrific acts against humanity took place in both Burundi and Rwanda nearly destroying coffee cultivation altogether and crippling their economies. After the war-torn nations emerged from the devastation, they turned back to coffee as a means to recover. The emergence of women-owned cooperatives restarted coffee production on lands that were once their fathers, brothers and other male family members who were tragically lost.
Rwanda’s success in rebuilding through coffee sparked inspiration for Burundi’s industry in the 2000’s. But the early 2000’s also brought historically low prices to the global coffee market. Farmers became disinterested in maintaining the quality of their crops and soon they were not worth picking at all. Finally, with invested support, there was more opportunity and stability built into Burundi’s economy as well as the development of both private and state operated coffee facilities. Despite their small size and tumultuous history, Burundi has emerged and established itself as a specialty coffee producing country.
Present Day
Burundi’s topography consists of a tropical highland climate with volcanic soil, which is ideal for coffee cultivation. Main growing regions are concentrated in the Northern and Central provinces, where there are both private and federal cooperative operations. According to Atlas Coffee, as of 2019, there were roughly 283 washing stations and 8 dry mills throughout the country. These SOGESTALs, which stands for Société de Gestion des Stations de Dépulpage Lavage, collect and process coffee from the many surrounding farms in the area. These harvests are often combined to boost the size of the exported lot, because the crops harvested by individual farmers are often too small. Any coffee that is not included in these cooperative lots may be produced as microlots by default, because the average farmer owns less than a single hectare (roughly 107,639 square feet) of land. There are between 600,000-800,000 coffee producers in the country alone with no larger estates, like those we see in Central America and South America.
Regardless of the leadership and management of these stations, the attention to detail in processing the coffee makes a big difference in the final quality in the cup. This helps to create a high standard of quality and uniformity which in turn increases the profitability. The quality also increases if the coffee is grown in closer proximity to the processing station. With the additional challenge of being a landlocked country, transporting the crop to port is a race against time to ensure its freshness.
In 2008, better traceability and direct coffee purchasing was opened up; allowing coffee buyers to develop relationships with individual or cooperatives of producers in Burundi. Forging these relationships takes time as trust is developed between producer and buyer. With the history of colonial oppressors and civil unrest, the development of these bonds can pose to be a slow and hesitant process. To break through these barriers, buyers and producers both need to work together with transparency in communications in order to nurture equity and value throughout the coffee chain. One of the efforts is taking seed in investing in the sustainability of the land itself.
Startling statistics revealed there is only 5.9% of forested land remaining in Burundi. This is a devastating loss to future agriculture as it increases soil erosion and loss of habitat, which threatens wildlife. The last remaining indigenous rain forest, The Kibira, is located in the North-Western portion of the country and still has an estimated 9% annual deforestation rate. Thankfully, there are efforts to help rebuild the forests since these canopies help provide shade for coffee plants to thrive under. The Trees for Kibira Project is trying to encourage future generations of shade grown coffee in Burundi; not only to continue improving the quality of coffee, but also for the biodiversity of the forest and the community as a whole. With the growing concerns of climate change reducing suitable coffee cultivation areas around the world, these initiatives will help develop future sustainability.
Take a moment to observe the Burundi flag. It represents several
key elements depicting the history and the hopes for the future of the small
nation. The three stars in the center represent the three main ethnic groups: Hutu, Tutsi and Twa. While the red signifies the struggle that the country endured
fighting for independence, the green stands for hope and the white cross in the
center for peace. This nation’s visual representation is a testament to the
unity, work and progress made despite the tumultuous history. With the
collective efforts in rebuilding a war-torn country, Burundi has proven with
their care and attentiveness that they can produce exceptional coffees. It is with
this hope and unity throughout the coffee value chain that coffees from Burundi
can continue to improve the product quality and develop more equity. We hope
these efforts and better understanding of history inspire all of us involved in
coffee to nurture transparency from seed to cup. Take the opportunity to try
coffee from this small African country and reflect on just how much this nation
went through to share this cup with the rest of the world.
Resources
Burundi
Counts on Women, Youth, Pygmies to Double Coffee Output
Burundi
coffee freight and route
Royal New
York information on Burundi
Burundi Trade Exports
Statistics
The Observatory of Economic
Complexity
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