About the coffee:

More than 3,500 smallholder coffee growers who live near Kayanza, Burundi deliver their coffee cherries to the Kibingo washing station. These producers are members of organized groups of about 30 people with one “farm leader” who acts as a spokesperson to communicate between the group and the washing station.

Hand-picked cherries are brought to Kibingo washing station where they are sorted and pulped within 6 hours of receiving. The traditional washed coffee is fermented in large fermentation tanks in water for 10 to 12 hours.

Trained agronomists check the beans by hand regularly to ensure fermentation is stopped at the perfect moment. The station workers trample the parchment to remove mucilage and end the fermentation process. Following fermentation, the coffee is run through washing and grading canals with moving water. As the beans flow through, wooden bars that are laid across the canal separate beans by specific densities, separating the beans into seven different grades according to density. After washing, this parchment is poured onto wooden trays or nylon bags and carried to the drying tables, each in its separate quality group. Each tray and nylon bag of parchment keeps its traceability tag with all info. Parchment is laid on raised beds to dry. Pickers go over the drying beans for damaged or defective beans that may have been missed in previous quality checks. The moisture level is carefully monitored and any parchment with visual defects is removed during drying.

Kibingo washing station is located just under 1,900 meters above sea level in Northern Burundi with the surrounding hills ranging from 1,700 meters to 1,900 meters. The station has 10 fermentation tanks, two soaking tanks and plenty of drying space with more than 160 raised beds for drying. All in all, the station can process 750,000 kilograms of coffee cherries per day!

At the washing station, farmers can obtain organic fertilizer from composted coffee pulp. To promote farm renovation, producers can get low-cost, subsidized coffee seedlings at the washing station. Kibingo is managed by Greenco who operate 13 washing stations in Burundi focusing on processing high quality coffees and improving producer livelihood and equity through programs and hands-on participation within the community.

The washing station participates in a number of farmer outreach and support projects including a livestock rearing project and a range of Farmer Hub projects centered on strengthening cooperatives and improving plant yields.