Hello!
Have you read the recent article about the project Petit Kwilu for coffee lovers? It was published in the Neue Presse Coburg a couple of weeks ago. Read the article in German here. With my husband being stationed in Kinshasa/Congo I thought it would be a great idea to contact and get in touch with Mr. Rückert via email to talk to him about this project. He invited me to his house at the Rückert Museum which was amazing and such a great experience. I will share some information about the project from their handouts and brochures. I think it is a great project with lot of potential. As more information becomes available, I will write about it here. So stay tuned.
“For two years now COPROCOM, a Congolese cooperative of growers, has been working to rejuvenate the neglected coffee and cacao plantations in the Mayombe region. The procurements of the necessary financial resources and the identification of sales channels operating according to fair trading principles are tasks being implemented by their German partners in Coburg.”
Klaus Rückert, Jean-Pierre Baku-Bufuanga, Dr. Georg Roth, Christel Rückert
The Mayombe region in the DRC
The situation in the DRC is unstable. In the East, violence and intermittent armed conflict are defeating development efforts. In the West, the Mayombe region are enjoying a fragile peace but what used to be one of the most thriving regions of Africa is now economically and environmentally destitute. Coffee and cacao plantations which, along with bananas, providing the region with its income and fame, have been all but replaced by subsistence farming – providing the growers with little more than enough to eat. As a consequence, the people are getting poorer, many are fleeing to the cities. The intensive farming is taking its toll on the environment. Without income, the growers cannot send their children to school. A downwards spiral in living standards is programmed.
Coffee
The Mayombe region is home to “Petit Kwilu” coffee. This Robusta variety has smaller beans and a milder and less bitter taste than the common Robustas. German coffee roasters agree that “Petit Kwilu” could earn a place on their shelves. To date, the coffee cherries have been first dried and then processed, in order to improve the taste. This must change, so that the pulp is removed immediately post-harvest before the cherry is dried. Manual de-pulping mills must be purchases to allow this quality improvement.
Cacao
Mainly Forastero types, and specifically then Amelonado variety, are grown in Maybombe at present. Hybrid varieties originally from the DRC’s INERA Institute as well as from the Ivory Coast and Ghana are now being introduced. The crop benefits from the cold Benguela Atlantic Stream, which hangs a hazy veil over the region during the long dry season.
Partners
The COPROCOM cooperative was founded in 2011 as a spin-off from SOPAM (“Solidarité Paysanne du Mayombe”). Its main objective is to reduce poverty in the rural population by improving productivity in livestock and arable farming on a sustainable basis.
The non-profit organization “Café-Cacao-Congo” based in Coburg, Germany, supports COPROCOM in its search of finance. The German Embassy awarded COPROCOM US $18,600 as start-up capital.
The Senior Expert Service (SES), charity of the German Business, has supported the project from its start with a consultant in tropical crops.
The Vision
COPROCOM and their German partners are convinced:
- Agriculture in Mayombe is presently sub-optimal, many farmers are living very close to or even below subsistence level. A result is migration into the cities. This can only be stopped if the growers have access to a secure basic income. Products such as coffee, cacao and bananas offer some income because they can be sold locally or internationally (cash crop products)
- The planned ecological agroforestry system moves away form the present monocultures and back to the earlier diversified forestry and agricultural methods. It contributes to a sustainable future for Mayombe
Objectives:
- facilitate continuos improvements in quality and productivity to enable the growers to obtain a fair price for their quality products and to provide them with a secure income
- Establish ethical and socially responsible strong and resilient relationships between COPROCOM, its growers and the buyers of the products
Contact Information
In Europe
Café-Cacao-Congo (CCC UG)
Friedrich-Rückert Str. 13
96450 Coburg
Management:
Dr. Georg Roth and Klaus Rückert
Financial counsellor: Shirley Baldry
cafecacaolukula@gmail.com
In the Mayombe
COPROCOM Managment committee: Jean Tsimba (Coordinator), Ariane Nsombila, Mabiala (Secretary)
Address: Avenue Malanda Ngoma n° 02 Cité de Nsioni, Mayombe, Kongo-Central, D.R. Congo
E-mail: tsimba2000@yahoo.fr,
Phone: +243 998887446
Thank you for reading my blog.
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