Burundi - Gatukuza

Fruity / Caramel

Gatukuza is a coffee washing station located in northern Burundi, providing market access to nearly 3,000 farmers.

The washing station is owned and managed by a company called Nduwayezu Entreprises, itself owned by Therence Nduwayezu.

It is a fairly large washing station in terms of size and processing capacity for Burundi, capable of processing up to the equivalent of 35 containers of green coffee.

The company has organized local farmers into groups of 30, supervised by lead farmers who themselves receive training from the company. Producers also receive coffee cherry pulp, which they use as fertilizer in their fields. They own an average of 385 coffee trees, with an average production of 1.5 kilograms of cherries per tree. This figure is higher than the national average of 1 kilogram, thus allowing farmers in the region to achieve better incomes.

Nduwayezu also distributes fertilizers and minerals to farmers and, in some cases, can grant loans to its members. Since 2019, Gatukuza has been UTZ certified thanks to Supremo's support in preparing for audits and creating market access.

During the 2019-2020 harvest, two lots from this washing station won first and second place in the Burundi Cup of Excellence ranking. Aware that this would not have been possible without the hard work of the farmers, Therence decided to reward them with a 400% premium on the price of the coffee each had delivered that season.