Source: dailycoffeenews.com
As part of the Reviving Origins program, focusing on sustainability, worth millions of dollars, Nestlé-owned Nespresso has announced a long-term program to help promote the coffee industry in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Along with this announcement, Nespresso launched its first DRC coffee in the United States, a limited edition oriental DRC arabica called Kahawa Ya Congo.
Nespresso started investing in DRC last year, along with project partners TechnoServe, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the green coffee company Virunga Coffee Company, which was founded by Olam in 2011.
Through training and technical support to improve coffee quality and sustainable practices and increase farmers’ income, the Nespresso program currently participates in approximately 450 DRC and mangroves growers. pepper is to reach 5,000 farmers by 2024.
Coffee has historically been an important export crop for the Congo, where nationalized production peaked during the 1980s and 1990s. Years of civil conflict, deteriorating infrastructure and instability between buyers severely hampered the nation’s ability to grow and sell coffee, and by 2010 it was estimated that national production was only one tenth of what it was in 1990.
However, the main arabica growing area along the shores of Lake Kivu on the eastern edge of the country is believed by many to have enormous potential for coffee quality comparable to some of the best coffees from neighboring countries such as Rwanda and Kenya. This year, coffee producers faced a series of troubles in areas of Eastern DRC, including attacks from armed groups, landslides and floods, ebola outbreaks and socks. course, COVID-19.
“The coffee farmers that we work with over the years have overcome incredible challenges, and are determined to improve their coffee and, in doing so, improve their lives.” William Warshauer, president and CEO of TechnoServe, said in an announcement shared by Nespresso today. . “Through better agronomic and processing techniques, and the participation of a reliable buyer like Nespresso, these farmers increased their income and began to build a better future for their family. family. “
Last year, Nespresso announced that it was investing 10 million Swiss francs (about $ 10.9 million so far) into the Reviving Origins program.
Over the past two years, the company has made commitments to procure coffee from previously conflict areas in Colombia’s Department of Caquetá; in Zimbabwe, where land reforms led to volatile coffee markets; and in Puerto Rico, where the coffee field was ravaged by hurricanes Maria and Irma in 2017.
In January of this year, Nespresso announced it was also expanding the program to a spectacular wildlife-diverse area in Mozambique, where the government had established a peace treaty with the rebels in the year. last.
In addition to its coffee-related activities, Nespresso is spending about $ 1.1 million to bring access to clean water and health care facilities to coffee growing communities across South Kivu, includes 23 water access points and six health clinics.
