The latest news about Burundi

Reading time: 4 min

by Silvi Navarrete - CSR Leader

Coffee is the primary export product of Burundi — a relatively small African country located in the Eastern-central part of the continent. The climate conditions are favourable and the country is well-known for its excellent coffee quality.

However, coffee smallholders face challenges with low production, old coffee trees, and fluctuating yields. As the main export product, coffee plays an important role in the Burundian economy.

It is the main industry and export product of the country and provides important income for the roughly 600,000 families (about 40% of the population) who grow it. We partnered with Supremo, Rainforest Alliance, and SUCCAM – a local green coffee exporter in the Mumirwa region of Burundi to improve the livelihoods of network of certified coffee farmers.

Selecta Support Burundi Farmers

Selecta provide Good Agriculture Practices (GAP) training to farmers in Burundi to help them improve their coffee yields and farming skills. The first quarter of the year focused on three modules:

Quality management at the time of harvest
Intercropping
Management of diseases and pests.

In the first quarter of 2022, our Project Supervisor carried out 5 training sessions around in Ruhora, Burambi, Mageyo, Rugazi, and Rusekabuye. These were attended by a total of 114 Leader Farmers, of which 18 were women. We focused on how to improve process to increase production during the harvesting season. We also emphasized the importance of intercropping and compost, explaining how they contribute to the size of the yield and also fighting diseases and minimizing negative impact on the environment. Although we have a long way for a gender balance representation, we aim to increase the number of women farmers in our next trainings.

“Everyone who attended the sessions, thoroughly enjoyed them and came out more knowledgeable around topics of compost and nutrients”

Jean-Pierre Trainer of trainers

Sharing A Cup Of Coffee

In Burundi, it's a common daily ritual for farmers to drink a glass of fresh milk or a thermos of hot tea, but almost never coffee. At the Mageyo community during a GAP training, farmers took a break to share a cup and taste the coffee they are producing!

Providing Clean And Safe Drinking Water To Coffee Farmers

In addition to GAP training, we have partnered with ZOA International to implement the rehabilitation of 20 water sources. The first phase was to bring construction materials on site whilst the local communities did their share by providing gravel. Their engagement has been fantastic and the contribution to a small extent has generated a community commitment and a sense of ownership on these water sources.

Farmers’ corner

In each article, we will provide a highlight story in our ‘Farmer’s Corner’ section, to tell you more about a farmer we have provided value to within our Programme. Today, we would like you to meet Syldie Bandiringero. The money made from her coffee production allowed her to renovate her house, educate her children and buy animals to help her with her farm work.

“Through the GAP training I learned to prepare modern composting and improve pruning and my fertilization process. This has improved my coffee yield and livelihood.”

Syldie Bandiringero

The Selecta Coffee Fund (SCF) contributes to Sustainability initiatives across our value chain, with a focus on the development of coffee farmers, their families and communities in coffee growing areas around the world.

Through the Selecta Coffee Fund impact areas, we aim to improve the livelihoods of coffee farmers, foster social equity, maintain thriving ecosystems, reduce carbon emissions and protect our ecosystem.

If this news interests you, we encourage you to read our Selecta Coffee Fund Brochure, in which we describe our projects more in detail. Day-in and day-out at Selecta is about sustainable coffee. So, we want to thank our clients for the support and will keep updating you in the coming months.