BURUNDI: INTERVIEW WITH A COFFEE FARMER

Burundi is an ideal country for the production of high-quality Arabica coffee, which could generate a solid and recurring income for thousands of farming families. An average altitude of between 1,500 and 2,000 metres, abundant rainfall and a tropical savannah biome combine to create exceptional growing conditions, with coffee accounting for 80 per cent of the country's exports.

​Despite this, the Burundian coffee sector faces many challenges. Poor soil health and inadequate maintenance of coffee trees result in low and irregular yields. Production is also threatened by climate change, which increases the frequency of both droughts and heavy rains, resulting in increased soil erosion. Meanwhile, poor processing practices reduce the quality and price of much of Burundi's coffee, and the country's cumbersome business and political environment makes it less attractive to global exporters.

The video above is an uncomfortable reminder of how uneven the coffee industry can be. Here we get a first-hand look at the hard work of a Burundian coffee farmer and the meagre annual remuneration he receives for that work. Although today, according to what producers tell us, cherry prices have almost doubled, it is still less than USD 0.4 /kg cherry. The same proportion as four years ago due to the devaluation of the Burundian Franc.
 
There is something extremely wrong and unfair about the current world coffee pricing system, so we must collectively work to push the boundaries of the industry in general and specialty coffees in particular. Facilitating access to high-value markets for small farmers and cooperatives is key to changing the model, through traceability, education and transparency.
 
You can help by choosing quality coffees with traceability and price transparency.