Rwanda - Bugoyi

Being a single mother in Rwanda is challenging and they frequently face a lot of stigma, isolation and depression. In order to support single mothers, Baho Coffee Company initiated a solidarity group where single mothers could join together over coffee farming and also find friendship and hope. The women chose the name “Ikizere” for their group because it means “hope” in Kinyarwanda and that is what they felt the group represented.

Ikizere Women’s Group meets regularly to share their experiences, successes, and learn from each other. Baho supports the women with training in Good Agricultural Practices, coffee cultivation and high-quality processing. Baho also provides training in other skills including financial literacy, weaving and animal husbandry to help women diversify their income and be successful.

Through Baho, Ikizere members receive good prices for their cherry and are able to market their coffee as women-produced, which adds value for growers and roasters alike. Members receive price premiums for their high-quality coffee and their women-produced status. The women also receive health care and short-term loans for family needs and Baho has helped build a source of clean drinking water in their community that everyone can access.

Ikizere has become so successful, that married women are now requesting to join the group so that they can access the benefits the single mothers in the group now have. Ikizere’s sin-gle mothers have chosen to share their successes and have welcomed other women into their group.

Bugoyi is an anoxic processed coffee. which means it’s been fermented in a controlled, oxy-gen-free environment. This process, sometimes ‘incorrectly’ referred to as anaerobic pro-cessing, and is a relatively new technique that has been gaining popularity in specialty cof-fee for a few years.

By fermenting coffee cherries in a sealed container, producers can create a unique flavour profile that is distinct from traditional processing methods like washed or natural. Anoxic processing can result in coffees with intense sweetness, fruity notes, and complex acidity, which is what this coffee delivers, in spades.