Burundi - Kayanza

Ubwiza bw’ikawa literally means “the beauty of Coffee” but the implied meaning is “Benefits of Coffee”. The process of privatization of the coffee sector in Burundi occurred when coffee growers were organized in associations under the big national organization known as National Confederacy of the Associations of coffee growers ‘CNAC-Murima w’Isangi’. As these associations cannot compete with the private investors, they made the decision to transform their associations into cooperatives which can fill at the same time the social and economic mission. This is the way UBWIZABW’IKAWA Cooperative was born in 2009 with main activity of collecting the production (cherries) of the members to be forwarded in the existing coffee washing station of the state to avoid cases of theft during weighing and payment that farmers were compromised with and at the same time to realize some gains of this activity. 

Other motivation behind the creation of the cooperative were to:

• Build their own coffee washing plant at the nearest of producers to reduce the long distance they had to walk, directly participate in the chain value of coffee by avoiding all middlemen
• Increase production by facilitating access to agro-inputs and extension services,
• Direct access market and increase the revenue of farmers to improve their livelihood. 

The cooperative built the washing station since 2009 and it became functional in 2011 etc.   During the year 2012, the cooperative met with others and created a Union of the cooperatives of coffee growers known as ‘COCOCA’ to facilitate the promotion of their coffee and develop other complementary services. In 2013, thanks to the good will of cooperators and facilitation of COCOCA, the cooperative was fairtrade certification under the ID above-mentioned. The cooperatives counts more than 1800 nonmembers but that supply their productions to the cooperative among them 623 are women.