Leading the charge for this coffee is Angèle Ciza, CEO of Kahawa (“coffee” in Swahili) Company, a leader in sustainability and women’s empowerment in Burundi. She believes that good coffee is achieved by using best practices in the nurseries and during picking but by also investing in additional training, environmental protection, social infrastructure, and cost sharing reductions for their producers. For her, investing in those who grow coffee, especially women, is essential to further developing Burundi.
Her company, Kahawa Company, also known as KALICO, operates seven washing stations in northeast Burundi, specifically in the Kirundo and Muyinga provinces. In the Muyinga province, you will find the Murago washing station, one of seven owned by KALICO. The mill draws in coffee from 3,023 producers from Bonero hill, who primarily grow the Bourbon variety. This coffee is selected from a combination of smallholder farmers in Butihina commune, lying between 1650m and 1750m above sea level, and processed at the Murango washing station. It is one of many coffees processed at Murango, and the collection of mills run by KALICO, which have placed several top scoring coffees in past Burundi COE competitions.
