Virunga Coffee

Against the odds, farmers living along the borders of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Virunga National Park are producing some of the world’s finest Arabica coffee. Amid outbursts of conflict, this extraordinary landscape produces raw coffee beans with spectacular potential, while the National Park provides a vital refuge for endangered animals including the mountain gorilla.

By unleashing the potential of two coffee cooperatives, this project boosted the livelihoods of over 7,000 coffee farming families living on the park’s border, reducing pressure on the park’s resources and lifting people out of poverty.

From planting to processing, the project refined each step of the production process in Virunga to increase the quantity and quality of coffee produced. As a result of training farmers in good agricultural practices such as crop diversification, the cooperatives grew their operations and achieved Fairtrade and Organic Certifications. They also learnt about sound business planning during periods of instability and secured working capital to facilitate growth.

The two young and vibrant cooperatives were supported to understand and operate successfully in international speciality coffee markets. They attended trade fairs and negotiated with international buyers with the aim of establishing relationships with importers, roasters and retailers.