Coffee is not native to Burundi. The Belgian colonial administration forced people to plant it, and some of the country's first trees went in during the 1930s.
One family's Munkaze washing station, started in 1938, now processes coffee from more than 500 local growers. Its owner says the rainy and dry seasons have become less regular over the past decade.
Field notes
What the record says
- The Belgian colonial administration forced the population to plant coffee.1
- Some of Burundi's first coffee trees were planted in the 1930s.1
- The Munkaze Coffee Washing Station was started in 1938 and processes coffee from more than 500 growers.1
- Business experts cited by Guernica say Burundi realises only 20 to 50 percent of its coffee harvests.1
What we couldn't confirm
Thin: one first-person magazine piece. The '50 trees per farmer from 1933' rule appeared only on roaster blogs and was left out.
Sources
- Terms of Inheritance · Guernica, 2023 in the bibliography
