Rwanda Nyungwe Site

Producer RTC Members (Rwanda Trading Co.)
Washing Station Nyungwe Washing Station
Sector Kagano Sector
Province Western Province
District Nyamasheke

Sun Exposure Mixed forest shade and sun
Farm Size Small subsistence farms
Altitude 1800 meters
Latitude -2.36096
Longitude 29.13593

Variety Red Bourbon
Process Natural
Fermentation Dry
Drying Sun dried on raised beds

Harvest 2025/26

Flavor Poached Pear, Dried Fruit, Honey, Plum, Brown Spice, Underlying Floral
Descriptors Juicy, Very Balanced, Clean and Bright

About this coffee Winding through the lush valleys of rice fields in Rwanda’s Nyamasheke District, right along the edge of Nyungwe Forest National Park, you eventually arrive at the Nyungwe Washing Station. It’s a quiet but vital hub, where nearly 900 smallholder farmers deliver their coffee, some traveling from as far as 12 kilometers away.

These farmers, working in partnership with Rwanda Trading Company, take part in ongoing agronomy training programs designed to strengthen both their crops and their livelihoods. Through hands-on modules in best agricultural practices and financial literacy, they’re building more sustainable futures. In recent years, the focus has turned to rejuvenating aging coffee trees. More than 200,000 seedlings have been distributed locally to help farmers replace older plants and expand their farms around Nyungwe, contributing to an impressive 3.5 million seedlings distributed across all RTC washing stations over the past three years.

Here, coffee farms stretch right up to the boundary of the national park, with plots ranging from just 150 to as many as 3,000 trees. Once harvested, the cherries are brought to the station, where they are carefully cleaned and sorted before being laid out on raised drying beds. Over the course of 10 to 14 days, the beans are meticulously tended—hand-sorted, turned, and raked—until they reach the perfect level of dryness.