At PMC, we love coffees from Burundi. This small and often overlooked country doesn't have the production power of its East African neighbors, but coffee is tied into the fabric of everyday life. Coffee production in Burundi is fueled by over 600,000 smallholders, and their income usually supports the entire family. To put that into perspective, the whole population of Burundi is just under 11 million people, meaning smallholder producers and their families make up almost 50% of Burundi's entire population.  

We first visited Burundi back in 2019, when our Green Buyers connected with Greenco – a company that manages Central Washing Stations (CWS) throughout the Kayanza region. 

Greenco works with young agronomy graduates to provide farmer training and manage their washing stations. In Burundi, the national youth unemployment rate is almost 50% - by working specifically with young graduates, Greenco are helping make lasting socio-economic change, as well as utilizing a tech-savvy workforce, to simplify the flow of information between Greenco and their washing stations.  

Kibingo CWS serves 1,739 coffee growers spread out over the surrounding hills. Producers registered at the washing station are organized into groups of 30 people, headed by a farm leader. This leader acts as a spokesperson to facilitate communication and organization with the CWS. The CWS participates in several farmer outreach and support projects including a livestock rearing project, and a range of Farmer Hub projects centered on strengthening cooperatives and improving yields.