Scaling Smallholder based Premium Coffee Production in Congo and Rwanda

COOPAC is an enterprise dealing with coffee production, processing, and export of premium specialty coffee. Founded in 2001 with 110 coffee farmers in the Gisenyi region in Rwanda, coffee beans are sourced from over 9,000 smallholder farmers in Rwanda and 7,000 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

COOPAC is among the few Rwandan coffee suppliers benefiting from 3 major coffee production standards: Fairtrade (FLO), Organic, and Rainforest Alliance.

Financing from the CFC allows COOPAC to increase its wet coffee-washing capacity in the DRC, a critical technique in producing quality coffee, and by adding value through processing and certification. Part of the loan is used for working capital purchases to scale sourcing of its organic coffee from smallholders in both countries. With the goal of scaling coffee production up to 16,600 farmers by 2024, COOPAC hopes to create much-needed jobs and improve smallholders’ yield and net income.

SDGs