Congo is complicated: Instability means coffee farmers can’t find a stable market, or even farm their crop without sometimes facing threats.
The issues in CongoKivu is the general name for East Congo (Kinshasa), covering a very broad geographical area, and the lake of the same name that divides them. It borders on... ...more are lack of a unifying government, the conflicts of local militias, and their fight over the mineral riches in the land. Rare earth minerals among others, components needed for the production of technology in manufacturing countries thousands of miles away, are fuel added to the fire of social division and power struggles in Congo
Coffee farmers suffer in this climate. Any farmer requires stability, to use their land without fear they might be driven away from it by violent conflict. They also need to develop a market for their coffee, and have investment in their area in the processingThe removal of the cherry and parchment from the coffee seed.: Coffee is either wet-processed (also called washed or wet-milled) or dry-processed (also called wild, natural or natural... ...more equipment. Few are willing to invest in an area with great social turmoil.
The answer for years has been to smuggle Congo Kivu coffee across borders to sell in neighboring countries, like RwandaA Bourbon cultivar variant from Rwanda and Burundi. Bourbon coffees are named for the island in the India Ocean where French colonists grew it. Some history from the... ...more. This is risky in many ways, of being taken advantage of economically of course, but also life threatening too. Many Congo farmers who used small boats and canoes to smuggle coffee across Lake Kivu to Rwanda have perished, drowning on the voyage due to sudden storms, being swamped by water, in their unsafe vessels.
The answer in many ways is indirect: To build a market for Congo coffee by recognizing that it has great cup quality. It can be delicious! That takes an infrastructure to organize farmers, better train them in quality methods of growing and harvesting coffee. It takes building washing stations to better process the coffee. And it takes the investment in dry-milling to export the coffee proficiently, to maintain that cup taste potential that is so promising in the high-grown coffees of Congo.
Video: Congo Coffee Visits
This is actually a slideshow video … I guess I was so excited to be in South Kivu I forgot to record actual video? I don’t know. The trip was several years back, but I realized I had not compiled my thoughts and really shown our viewers much of this great coffee-producing originIn coffee talk, it refers to a coffee-producing region or country; such as, "I was just at origin." Of course "Origin" for most product we use is not... ...more. I was tasting some new green coffeeGreen coffee refers to the processed seed of the coffee tree fruit. Coffee is a flowering shrub that produces fruit. The seeds of the fruit are processed, roasted,... ...more offers from Congo and this all dawned on me! So …
There’s some things I wanted to vocalize about Congo so here it is:
Congo Coffee Photo Gallery
Some still images (most are in the video too):
A local home made coffee roaster in Congo. The drum was not square! 
Picking coffee near Kahungu Town, Congo 
Coffee cherry, not terribly well selected though. Kahungu Town, Congo 
Parchment coffee in Kahungu village, farmer Emile Ntamirabali batera We met with Emile (center) about the coffee processing method and discussing local issues with price. New Penagos Eco-Pulper just installed at the coop station in Congo This is called shade drying, initial sorting done in shade. CPCK washing station, Mabingu area 
The light colored parchment is good clean wet-processed coffee, while the other is old poorly processed type 
I remember the great conversations we had this day about coffee farming Congo, about prices, and about fair trade. It was in enlightning. Some of the many NGO coffee folks in Bukavu visiting the station with us. CPCK washing station, Mabingu area CPCK washing station, Mabingu area, Skin drying, sorting coffee, Congo The new fermentation tanks – yet to be fully used. Mabingu Coffee trees at Emile’s farm, Kahungu Town, Congo There was a new litter of puppies and they were licking the sweet mucilage off the just-pulped cherry Branches of coffee with the flower buds in the “candle” stage. Congo
