Coffee Cultivation

Introduction

Rwanda, with a land area of 26.338 Km² is constrained geographically, being situated 1,200 miles from the Atlantic Ocean and 750 miles from the Indian Ocean., between the latitudes of 1° et 2° 45 degrees south. Most of the country is mountain, and Rwanda is referred to as "The Country of A Thousand Hills".

The cultivated area is situated between 1,300 and 2,400 of altitude. The area of farmable land is 1,250,000 hectares and the population density is 500 people per Km². Because of the high population density, there is a necessity for intensive agricultural production.

Coffee-growing was begun in Rwanda in 1904 and production has developed rapidly. The majority of farms are run by small producers, with between 300 and 500 trees per family, which are their principal source of income. Rwanda has about 400,000 coffee producers with 70,000,000 trees covering an area of 31,000 hectares.

The Arabica coffee plant of Rwanda is grown at at altitudes of between 1,400 andt 1,850 metres. COOPAC is located in the zones of Nyamyumba and Kayove, in the Southern Bugoyi district of Gisenyi. The climate is perfect for coffee production, yielding up to 1 kilo of coffee per tree. The rainfall is approximately 1,100 mm per year and is evenly distributed across the entire area. The rich soil is derived from large deposits of lava from the seven local volcanoes..

Types of Plants

The coffee plantations were established mainly from plants of the Bourbon Mayaquez family. In the fields, the coffee develops naturally with careful pruning techniques speeding its growth significantly. The coffee seeds are initially selected and supplied by the Rwandan National Coffee Institute.

The Seedlings

The seeds are planted in the nursery at the beginning of November. The seedlings grow for 3 to 4 months in the nursery, when the baby plants are at the stage of "clou or cotylédons". They are removed from the soil and graded in a selection process before being replanted at the nursery. The young coffee plants spend 8 months in the nursery before being transplanted at the farms.

Replanting at the Coffee Farms

The small coffee trees are normally planted in October or November during the short rainy season and the work is completed by the beginning of December. They are planted at a density of 2,500 plants per hectare and are put into a hole measuring 60x60x60cm with a quantity of manure.