DR Congo

Against the odds, farmers living in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) are producing some of the world’s finest Arabica coffee.

Amid protracted conflict, this extraordinary landscape produces raw coffee beans with spectacular potential, while the national parks provide a vital refuge for endangered animals including the mountain gorilla.

Challenges

Farmers in eastern DR Congo work in extremely difficult circumstances. Continuing conflict and the presence of at least 70 armed groups make many areas dangerous and hard to access, particularly outside of the main towns. Climate change and human activity in national parks threaten the ecosystem on which many communities depend.

Driven by the necessity to earn a living, farmers are damaging forests’ precious habitat by cutting down trees through unsustainable slash and burn agriculture and for charcoal production.

Despite its mineral wealth, DR Congo has some of the lowest development indicators of any country in the world.

DR Congo is part of the Congo Basin, the largest carbon sink in the world, yet communities find themselves at increasing risk of climate change impacts and natural disasters.

The potential of the coffee sector has been held back by limited knowledge of good farming practices and poorly developed market channels, keeping growers’ incomes low. Until recently, farmers only undertook very basic processing of the coffee they harvested, and sold it at low prices to informal traders.

Farm Africa in DR Congo

Farm Africa helps communities living near national parks and protected zones to make a sustainable living from the production and sale of high-quality, deforestation-free coffee. To date, Farm Africa has worked with 14,000 farmers in the east of the country.

We support coffee growers to increase the quality and quantity of their coffee, obtain certifications and access international markets.

With support from Farm Africa, coffee cooperatives are refining the coffee production process, increasing both the quality and quantity of the coffee produced. We offer farmers training in good agricultural practices, harvesting and processing techniques.

Protecting forests

The approach delivers results for people and the planet alike, developing sustainable agriculture-based livelihoods for coffee growing communities and contributing to conserving and restoring the forest landscape.

We have ambitious plans to develop a large-scale agroforestry programme here, boosting agricultural productivity across a range of crops and protecting precious biodiversity.

Empowering women

Farm Africa helps women to be fully involved in managing all stages of coffee production from harvesting through to export.

Women’s associations now run several coffee washing stations, and more women are finding their way into leadership positions within the cooperatives. It is now possible to buy coffees grown and processed by female coffee farmers in eastern DR Congo in global coffee markets.

A market-led approach

Farm Africa has supported the coffee cooperatives with business planning, financial reviews and gaining access to working capital from international ethical leaders and a local bank.

We have trained the co-operatives in contract negotiation and worked with them to promote their coffees in international speciality coffee markets, where coffee from DR Congo is  generating increasing excitement.

As a result of Farm Africa’s work to identify buyers and support the building of commercial partnerships, the cooperatives are now selling their coffee for premium prices in countries including Japan, Germany, France, Belgium, the USA and the UK.