An in-depth look at the origins that were used to create Mokum and Braine

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."

Over the past 13 years, we’ve focused on building stability within this complexity, buying consistently from Rushashi, maintaining annual volumes of around 34,000 kg (roughly 1.5 containers), and developing a market where at least 30 roasters return to Rwandan coffees each year. Experimental lots now make up around 10% of our volume and continue to grow. Alongside this, we’ve supported a grant project with SPVO to help cooperatives invest in regenerative agriculture, including a demo plot.

2025 RECAP

WHAT WENT WELL?

In 2025, the SPVO project at Abakundakawa came fully to life. Long-term contracts established by the Municipality of Amsterdam provided the cooperative with stability and trust, creating space for initiatives that go beyond trade alone. A 3-hectare demo plot was set aside for farmers to be stewards of the land and directly benefit from their work.

With support from the SPVO budget, the cooperative is planting native shade trees and equipping field officers with tablets to gather accurate, timely data from all farmers. The demo plot itself includes around 3,000 coffee trees, soon to be harvested for the upcoming season.

This project goes beyond producing coffee—it helps improve incomes and livelihoods for all farmers, ensuring they can remain active and engaged in the cooperative. Through long-term contracts, thoughtful support, and access to tools, farmers are not just participants—they are shaping the future of the land and the business, and benefiting directly from it.

WHAT DID NOT GO WELL?

Being able to contextualize Rwanda without forcing it into models has become increasingly difficult. Over the past year, multiple research groups—including True Price, our own SPVO baseline studies, and 60 Decibels—have tried to quantify farmer livelihoods. Across all of them, one thing is clear: most farmers are still far from earning a living income. And that is exactly why we continue working here—we understand both the depth of the challenge and the potential within it.

The structural realities are hard to ignore. Land sizes are extremely small, often less than 0.1 hectares, and there are few alternative income sources. This puts significant pressure on coffee as one of the only ways to generate cash.

At the same time, communicating this to clients in Europe is becoming harder. The conversation is often shaped by models and benchmarks that simplify a much more complex reality, and in that noise, the voice of producers can get lost.

In this context, our origin partners focus on specialty coffee as a way to accelerate income. If scale is limited, value per kilogram has to increase. It’s not a solution, but an attempt to move closer to viability. Choosing to keep working here is a conscious one—it means committing to long-term relationships and stable markets, even when the outcomes are not immediate, because stepping away would only reduce the already limited options farmers have.