The Dukunde Kawa Cooperative produces some of our most loved Rwandan coffees, and we’ve been proud to work with them since 2015. Based in Rwanda’s Northern Province, the cooperative has helped reshape the local coffee industry, shifting the focus from quantity to quality. Today, Dukunde Kawa owns three washing stations, has over 1,000 contributing members, and runs a range of impactful social programs.

In 2023, we had the joy of visiting the cooperative in person. We spent time with Managing Director Ernest Nshimyimma, President Celestin Mubera, and Odette Murakatete, who founded the all-women association Rambagirakawa, along with many other cooperative members. After buying coffee from Dukunde Kawa for years, it was an absolute privilege to meet the people behind the work and see their innovation firsthand.

Dukunde Kawa was established in 2000 and built its first washing station, Ruli, in 2003. Mbilima and Nkara followed in 2005. All three stations are located in beautiful, high-altitude landscapes ideal for growing coffee. Today, Ruli serves as the cooperative’s headquarters and largest station. It houses a dry mill, a model farm, a roastery, a cupping lab, and a community room. Ruli is now Fair Trade certified, Rainforest Alliance certified, and UTZ certified—an exciting development that helps bring their coffee to more markets.

The cooperative’s members are predominantly small-scale producers, with most farming less than a quarter of a hectare. By joining the cooperative, members can pool their harvests to form exportable lots. Those with larger harvests can also process and market their lots individually, thanks to the dry mill at Ruli.

Dukunde Kawa takes a dynamic and community-driven approach to coffee production. They offer training and agronomic support, provide healthcare and school fee assistance, and make discounted fertilisers and organic pesticides available to members. They also operate a dairy refrigeration facility and pasteurisation machine, helping members earn off-season income through milk sales.

In 2019, the cooperative opened a dedicated community room for Rambagirakawa, an all-women alliance within Dukunde Kawa. Rambagirakawa provides resources and support for female coffee producers, many of whom were widowed during the 1994 genocide. Members also earn income through traditional basket weaving and work together to combine and process their harvests.

Dukunde Kawa produces some of the most consistent and expressive coffees we’ve tasted from Rwanda. Over the years, we’ve featured single producer lots like Andre Hakizimana—one we’ve purchased annually since 2019—alongside Ruli Natural and Anastase Minani, to name just a few.

In Kinyarwanda, ‘Dukunde Kawa’ means ‘love coffee’—a name that speaks to their mission to improve livelihoods through coffee. We are incredibly proud to continue working with them.