Coffee in Rwanda
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Rwanda is a small land locked country situated just south of the equator. Topologically it is hilly and mountainous with an average elevation of 2000m in the west of the country and 1400m in the east. It has an area of 26,000 square kilometres and its capital city is called Kigali. With a population of 8.6 million people it is the most densely populated African country. Almost 30% of Rwanda is cultivated for food crops, with coffee being mainly grown in the areas along the shores of Lake Kivu and in the central high plateau. Both of these areas have good fertile soils.
Coffee was first established in Rwanda with seeds from Guatemala in 1905; these were grown in the vicinity of a mission called Mibirizi, and the variety of coffee named after this mission is still grown in Rwanda today. As this variety is able to thrive in the local conditions it does not have a high yield, so coffee of higher yielding varieties were introduced from Kenya and Reunion. The Belgium authorities actively promoted the growth of coffee from the late 1920’s by planting it alongside roads and paths, this allowed smallholders to gain an income. Even today coffee is the major cash crop for most Rwandan farmers.
Author: Deano
Mail: admin@plant-biology.com
Website: Coffee Benefits
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