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A packet of Maraba Coffee as sold in Rwanda

Maraba Coffee (Kinyarwanda: Ikawa ya Maraba; French: Café de Maraba) 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.

About 2,000 smallholder farmers grow the coffee plants under the Abahuzamugambi cooperative, founded in 1999. Since 2000, the cooperative has been supported by the National University of Rwanda (NUR) and the PEARL. The cooperative has improved coffee quality and penetrated the specialty market. (Read more...)