Maraba Coffee

Maraba Coffee is a Fairtrade-certified coffee grown in the Maraba area of southern Rwanda. Maraba's coffee plants are the Bourbon variety of the Coffea arabica species and are grown on fertile volcanic soils on high-altitude hills. The fruit is handpicked, mostly during the rainy season between March and May, and brought to a washing station in Maraba, where the coffee beans are extracted and dried. At several stages, the beans are sorted according to quality. The farmers receive credits based on the amount and quality of the beans they provide. The beans are sold to various roasting companies, with the best beans going to Union Coffee Roasters of the United Kingdom and Community Coffee of the United States. Rwanda Specialty Coffee Roasters buys from Maraba and sells to the domestic market. Maraba Coffee is also brewed into a beer. About 2,000 smallholder farmers grow the coffee plants under the Abahuzamugambi cooperative, founded in 1999