Meet Jeannette, a Female Rwandan Coffee Grower

At St Remio, we want to encourage people to think about where their cup of coffee is coming from, and most importantly, celebrate the people behind it.

In every cup of coffee you enjoy, there is 1000 stories behind it. That’s the impact of each cup of coffee. Alongside sourcing sustainable, Rainforest Alliance coffee, we are also committed to giving back and supporting growing communities at origin.

We spoke to female Rwandan Coffee grower, Jeanette to learn about her story and role as coffee grower.

Tell me about yourself. Do you have children? Are you married? What do you enjoy doing?

I have five children, and I’m married with one husband. I enjoyed growing different crops, especially coffee.

Tell me about your role in coffee growing and what a typical day looks like for you. How long have you been growing coffee?

My role in coffee growing is maintenance including weeding, mulching and pruning. I also help my husband with fertilizer application to assist with disease and pest control. We have been growing coffee for at least 20 years.  

What made you choose to work in coffee? Did your parents also work in coffee, and if so how long did they do it for?

I chose to work in coffee because I saw how my parents used coffee production to help with solving home financial problems like children’s school fees. I worked with my parents in coffee farming 8 years before I was married.

What is hardest part of coffee growing and the challenges you face? What is your motivation each day?

The hardest part of coffee growing and challenges I face is the lack of organic fertilizers and mulches.

My motivation each day is the yearly coffee price increasing which helps us in our daily life and family development. Another motivation for me is the 3 year partnership we have with St Remio.

What is it like to be part of Cocagi femme and how do you support each other?

We all work together and support each other by giving advice when needed. We also help each other out financially through debit and credit groups.

What would you like to see change about the coffee industry?

What I would like to see as a change in the coffee industry is more marketing and exposure of women coffee farmers internationally. I would also like more training for pest and disease control, as well as producing for higher priced buyers.

What makes Rwandan coffee so special?

What makes Rwandan coffee so special is the practice involved in processing the coffee. Care is taken during every step to increase the quality of the coffee.

What do you love most about RWANDA?

One of my favourite things about Rwanda are the hills and how clean it is, making it good for tourism. In Rwanda we also have gorillas which you can only find in a few places in the world.

Anything else you would like to say?

I want to say thank you to our partners, St Remio for their support. I would also like to thank all others involved in our development in coffee production and promotion on a national and international level.

By purchasing St Remio Coffee, you are choosing to empower female coffee farmers like Jeannette.

Make the change today! www.stremiocoffee.com.