We took the prices of these kilograms to measure the financial impact on the ground.

An in depth look at the coffee projects that have become possible or have
received a significant boost thanks to the Rijkswaterstaat contract.

An in depth look into the five projects in the Rijkswaterstaat portfolio.

Rijkswaterstaats entry into West Nile region is timely. These long-term recurring contracts allow farmers to experience a financial stability and it builds trust to start depending on such stable market demands without fearing their livelihoods to be at stake. Overall, the economic impact offer by Rijkswaterstaat to farmers working with Zombo Coffee Partners is the nutrition that supports them in leading a better life. Keeping Zombo in business is essential for all the farmers in this region as this means consistent improvement in the bargaining power, supporting farmers to be entrepreneurs and in a way creating a fairer and more transparent coffee business. 

In a  conversation with Andy and Aggrey from Zombo Coffee Partners regarding the impact of this purchase highlights Rijkswaterstaats contribution towards improving the bargaining power of the farmers in the West Nile Region. Zombo Coffee Partners defines impact as empowering farmers to become economically stable in their region. The data visualized below strengthens this story. Over the last 5 years after Zombo coffee entered the West Nile region, the local prices paid per kg of coffee cherry has also improved substantially. This is an important milestone not just for the farmers working with Zombo Coffee Partners but everyone in this region as it allows the farmers to bargain fairly for their produce.  In 2023, they were able to offer a second payment to the farmers as a bonus for the first time since their start. They observe that the lifestyle changes at farmer level are evident including being able to afford 3 meals a day, sending children to school, buying motorbikes and wearing good clothes. More women were seen in prominent leadership positions in the community and could participate freely because of a improved sense of self esteem because of coffee. They have seen that members of the microstation also have been able to handle large sums of money and account for them accurately. They have been working hard in moving their 3000 farmers in the 10 microstations to be organic certified. Further, they will work with up to 4000 farmers this year in buying their coffees at guaranteed cherry price of 0.60 USD bypassing the C market and still creating stability for the farmers. With the help of their field officers in each microstation, they are training champion farmers in best agricultural practices including making biofoliar as well as compost using local materials who were in turn trained by Ruben Borges. This initiative is now actively implemented within each microstation with the help of field officer making sure all the farmers can benefit from this knowledge. The dream for Zombo continues to be towards increasing purchase from each farmer they work with as well as support them towards increasing productivity as well as foster experimentation of new processing methods depending on the market demand.

After the genocide ended, leaving behind widows, displaced and separated families, single mothers, children at risk, poor sanitary and health measurements, hunger, vulnerability, and trauma - Rwandas government began implementing a restoration project to bring unity to the population. Abakundakawa was born from these efforts. However, it was not until 2012, when its former manager and lifelong coffee farmer Antoine Kagenza took over the management of the cooperative, that specialty and quality coffee was taught and spread over the 17 districts that form it.

Over the past years, Abakundakawa has significantly grown, attracting more farmers to produce specialty coffee and carefully developing a savings and credit system that offers economic security to its members. In 1999, the cooperative started with 103 members. Today it is formed by 2109 farmers, of which 919 are women, and 477 are youth. In 17 villages in Gakenke district, they supported the creation and development of two women in coffee groups: Duhingekawa and Abanyameraka, as well as the Ishema Youth Coffee Group, also conformed mostly of women (from the 477 farmers 289 are women), developed thanks to an initiative that came from Rutabo farmers when they noticed the alarming reality on the ground.

In Rwanda, 80% of the farmers are elderly, unemployment is high (24%), and the risk of joining gangs is also quite elevated. "The options young people have are limited," shares Antoine. "A young man can help their parents with their lands, migrate to the city, or join the army. A young woman can marry, migrate to the city (and usually work in sex services), or become a sewer or a hairdresser."

Access to a bigger and broader market, such as Rijkswaterstaat, helped Abakundakawa to develop this much-needed coffee group that also serves as a solution to one of the biggest challenges in coffee: the generational gap. By actively engaging the youth in coffee, production increases for everyone. The most labor-intensive chores rely on the youth. The elder also chose to leave the land to them, increasing the productivity of each tree. The Ishema Youth Coffee Group started in 2016 with 63 members. Today, 477 young farmers are part of this group. They learn credit, savings, administration, and, mostly, coffee.

At Mooley Maney, Komal Sable and Akshay Dashrath have put their effort into waste management, soil quality, intercropping, the creation of abundant and well-nourished agroforestry systems, and, quite notably, education and innovation. Their estate is a source of inspiration (and experimentation) on sustainable practices, processing methods, varietals, and ecology. They use almost zero water while processing their cherries and recently installed a solar-powered irrigation system. Their friend and partner Himakirti Godwda, from Krishnagiri estate, says, "I'm curious to see how their irrigation system works before I invest in one." All of this work was done while developing two community projects. Since their collaboration with the Srilangalli community started at the end of 2019, they've offered the technical and processing advice that is taking this coffee to the international market. Located in one of the most vulnerable areas in the region, at Srilangalli, most farmers move by foot, and no proper education is available. "I left because my kids had to go school," says Gidey, a farmer from this community who works with Komal and Akshay and has become the agent linking his community to specialty coffee. Monsoons and heavy rains have sliced mountains, leaving farmers without land and income. Worried about the social conditions most farmers endure in their communities but also about the smart use of water, Komal and Akshay also developed a local Excelsa coffee variety project with the surrounding community members. "Nobody was thinking about the coffee that existed already on the plots, and I wondered why aren't we thinking about Excelsa?" says Komal. Today, neighbors and community members grow Excelsa because they know there is a market for it. A market partially created by this active couple. Excelsa grows already in the plots, is potentially a climate-proof coffee, grows very easily, is resistant, and cups well.

South India Coffee Company exporting volumes have significantly increased over the past years, bringing more opportunities for other farmers and producers in the region, such as the case of Venkids Valley and Craigmore, active in soil and waste management, intercropping, and agroforestry. In Craigmore, managed by an ex-navy merchant, self through coffee professional and coffee expert Farokh Anklesaria, the soil organic matter has increased from 1% to 6% over the past five years, positively impacting the coffee they produce and sell.

Flores is one of the poorest regions in Indonesia. This contract with Rijkswaterstaat is crucial for the farmers of the ASNIKOM cooperative to start investing long term in rejuvenating their coffee trees. Adri from Ontosoroh Coffee, the exporter and processor of the coffees, explained that the collaboration with Rijkswaterstaat creates a consistent demand that can be a great incentive for the farmers in Flores to start developing long term plans for a stable livelihood. It is the baseline to start making active quality improvements as well as increasing the yield per hectare. Recently, ASNIKOM in cooperation with This Side Up coffees and Rikolto have started building drying domes to curb quality issues in the future, partly financed by the sales of the coffees to Rijkswaterstaat. Climate change plays a very vital role in affecting the lives and livelihoods of coffee farmers in Flores as well as Indonesia. Coffee in Flores contributes to 65-70% of the main income. Through recurring contracts, farmers can actively leverage their position in making sound investments to improve production capacities and essentially their quality of life. It encourages them to continue producing coffee for the foreseeable future. Regenerative agriculture will help them get good yields in future but for that they would have to lose 10-15% of their trees now which is an adverse effect on the income. But with such a long term contract, balancing between improving and producing can be sharpened constructively. “Demand drives income which in turn is an incentive to keep up with the demands” says Adri.

Click here to see the video showcasing the value chain from beginning (Indonesia) to end (Rijkswaterstaat).

When we visited the Limmu Kossa Estate they finished the microregion lot program (divided into Betella, Suki and Suromo - parts of the form), met the three first outgrowers whose coffee we will separate and offer as distinct lots from now on. They also created a cascara protocol and fine-tuned the natural drying process. The level of professionalism with which the farm is set up and maintained from an agro-forestry point of view became evident to us. It was also quite evident that the respect the locals have for Abba Ollie goes deep: the kind of community cooperation model we aim to see grow: people flock to the estate for work not just for the higher prices they receive, but for the good working and temporary living conditions at the farm. Lastly and most excitingly, on that trip, we made plans to create an on-site cupping lab, maintained by local teens who will receive sponsored Q-grading training.

None of this would have been possible without the ongoing support from Rijkswaterstaat. It has contributed steadily to our order from Limmu Kossa, so that we now are able to import many different grades of coffee from the estate. The Rijkswaterstaat coffee is a Grade 4 coffee, which is the result of milling coffee less intensively, but allows a higher price for more coffee to be obtained by the estate.