About Us

Dukunde Kawa literally means “Let’s love coffee”, is registered coffee growers’ cooperative started out in 2000 by 300 small scale farmers from 10 sectors in former communes MUSASA, Northwest of Rwanda, purposively to enhance farmers’ economic market power and aims to produce coffee of first quality. Prior to Dukunde Kawa formation, small-scale farmers would sell semi-processed coffees to middlemen who had a monopoly over the export market. Dukunde Kawa Cooperative famed MUSASA, is renowned by its high-quality coffee grown in rich volcanic soil in the rolling hills to an altitude of 1800 – 2200 m just near the mountain gorilla habitat. By today, the cooperative represents 1193 members majority women, operates 4 wet mills (Coffee washing station) and 1 dry mill with high- tech infrastructures that has the potential to produce 280MT of green bean annually. Musasa Coffee won Cup of Excellence 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018 in row in front of independent panels at different places. The cooperative has the following certification: Organic; Fairtrade; Rain Forest Alliance; UTZ and C.A.F.E. Practices.

The cooperative with long history of investing in women, development, and ways to mitigate poverty, it employs 80% women, and has also women chapter known as “Rambagira Kawa Women Group” that grows and sell “women coffee” under brand name “Angelique Finest”; and do embroidery and weaving during offseason.

Community investment projects

Dukunde Kawa Cooperative believes that coffee is about more than that delicious taste or caffeine buzz. It is also about changing lives. A good cooperative can cause communities to thrive. Farmers who work with Musasa Dukunde Kawa have been able to buy their own livestock, have access to long term credit without interest, pay health insurance annually and the Cooperative has also built 2 schools for local children in 2006. Many farmers renovated their homes and now all members’ homes are tiles roofed and cemented.

Since 2012, Dukunde Kawa has provided 220 milky cows directly to needy members to produce manure for fertilising the coffee plots, and the process is on through culturally pass-on the heifer/calf spirt commonly known as “kuzitura / kwitura”. In 2015, The Musasa Diary was born thanks to milk production abundance to respond on farmers claims for collection centre. Currently, the Diary business collects, process, and produce milk products like fresh milk, fermented milk, yoghourt, and cheeses. Musasa milk is pure, nutritious with fresh taste and loved by all ages.

Vision, mission, and objectives of the cooperative

• Our vision

  is to be leading producer of the specialty arabica coffee as green and roasted coffee products under MUSASA Coffee brand.

• Our mission

  DUKUNDE KAWA Cooperative strives to improve livelihoods and financial independence of its members through production of high valued coffee products and social programs with a high level of biodiversity and nature resources conservation.

• Our objectives
  

  objectives are to produce specialty coffee with a great taste to amaze coffee lovers with quality service to our customers and improve the welfare of coffee farmers in our region. We invest in next generation of coffee through youth engaging initiatives and support gender equality for our women farmer members to fully participate in the cooperative’s activities and its leadership.