A TASTE FROM BURUNDI

We often think that Burundi is not talked about enough in the specialty coffee industry, and at Kilimanjaro Specialty Coffees we want to change that idea and give this wonderful country and origin, which produces some of the best coffees in the world, the place that it deserves, on the African podium alongside Kenya and Ethiopia.

​One of the smallest countries in Africa, Burundi is landlocked and has an equatorial climate. Burundi is part of the Albertine Rift, the western extension of the East African Rift. This is important because the soils of the Rift Valley are volcanic and very fertile. Its cultivation areas are characterized by producing a cup with intense phosphoric acidity, full body with some fruity notes and complex flavour.

​The economy is predominantly agricultural, accounting for 50% of GDP in 2017 and employing over 90% of the population. Burundi's main exports are coffee and tea, which account for 90% of foreign exchange earnings. As the land is primarily used for subsistence farming and grazing, this has led to deforestation, soil erosion and habitat loss. As of 2005, the country was almost completely deforested, with less than 6% of its land covered by trees and more than half being commercial plantations.
 
Almost all coffees in Burundi are of the Bourbon variety, which is strictly controlled by the government for quality reasons. Due to the reduction in the size of coffee farms, old coffee trees are a major problem in Burundi. Many farmers have coffee trees that are over 50 years old, but with little land to farm, it is difficult to justify being completely out of production for the 3-4 years it will take for new plantations to start producing.
 
Despite all the challenges, Burundi still manages to focus on quality and produce consistently high-quality coffees each year.