Our Founder
The Cyahinda
Coffee story
Niyonsaba Betty Scheba is the founder of Cyahinda Coffee.
She was born into a coffee farming family in Rutsiro in western Rwanda. Her parents’ work in coffee paid for her school fees, and she later became a teacher.
She started growing coffee in her garden but dreamed of owning a coffee washing
station (CWS).
Rwanda is one of the fastest growing economies in the world and the Rwandan Government strongly encourages entrepreneurialism in the coffee sector.
It was an exciting time when Betty and her husband received their confirmation letter to build the CWS. On 15 April 2015, they founded Cyahinda Coffee Ltd through the Rwanda Development Board. Their mission was to improve coffee production through sustainable agriculture.
Cyahinda Coffee has since grown rapidly. In 2017, they bought a second CWS in Karengera Kabuga in western Rwanda.
In this region, coffee is grown on small farms of less than one hectare, at an altitude of 1,600-1,900m asl. In these ideal conditions, we grow exceptional specialty Arabica.
Our premium Cyahinda coffee is from this region in western Rwanda. It is fruity, creamy and clean, and cups at 87.
Contact Cyahinda for women-led specialty Rwandan Bourbon
Building brighter futures for
Rwandan specialty coffee farmers
The Karengera Kabuga washing station is in Nyamasheke
district in western Rwanda and works with 328 farmers.
Our passion for coffee extends to the hardworking people who nurture and grow it. As a growing Rwandan coffee company, we take our social responsibility seriously.
Our aim is to build better lives for our specialty coffee farmers and brighter futures for our youth. They are the cornerstone of our industry.
This is why we invest in the health, wellbeing and resources of our coffee-growing communities in Cyahinda and Karengera Kabuga.
Contact Cyahinda & support Rwandan speciality coffee farmers
Every year, we pay community health insurance for all our farming families. We have funded clean water distribution in the community, built a good road to the coffee washing station, and helped build community offices in nearby villages.
We plan to increase the capacity of our washing stations which currently process 1,500 tonnes of fresh coffee cherries. Processing more coffee means that we can employ more local people in the CWS and the fields.
The most important part of our community is sharing the benefits of specialty coffee with our 1,375 hardworking coffee farmers. At Cyahinda Coffee, we want to ensure that the premium prices paid for our wonderful coffee go directly to those who grow it.
By providing reliable, fair incomes, our farmers can afford better quality food, housing, schooling, health insurance and other necessities that improve their lives.
Higher earning capacities particularly empower our women farmers. Traditionally, Rwandan women have less access to land, equipment, finance or markets. By valuing them as equal partners, we open up a world of possibilities.
We truly believe that Cyahinda Coffee can have a real impact on the future of our country. We can grow hope, create opportunities and cement Rwanda’s position as one of the world’s top specialty coffee producers.
Sustainable farming &
climate-smart agriculture
We are grateful to live and farm high in the beautiful Rwandan mountains, “land of a thousand hills”.
The coffee-growing culture in the Cyahinda region is founded on good agricultural practices and pride in producing superb Rwandan coffee.
Contact Cyahinda & support Rwandan speciality coffee farmers
Coffee is grown high in the mountains of Rwanda in rich, volcanic soils with reliable seasonal rainfall and cool, humid air. Few fertilizers have ever touched this land – they are not needed.
Our environment gives us our unique, sustainable specialty Rwandan coffee. That is why we are dedicated to nurturing and protecting our land and ecosystem and farming sustainably.
Cyahinda Coffee supports all 1,375 of our farmers in using climate-smart agriculture and best practices for specialty coffee.
We use techniques such as mulching, pruning and weeding, together with organic manure from coffee pulp. We use EM technology to optimise our soils and promote plant growth. These natural practices care for our coffee trees and maintain our healthy, rich, volcanic soils.
We use hydroelectric energy, backed up by a generator. And we employ careful wastewater treatment to keep our natural spring water clean.
We are currently in the process of gaining our Rainforest Alliance certification for sustainable agriculture.
Contact Cyahinda for sustainable specialty Rwandan coffee
Growing and processing single origin, specialty coffee
From the start of September, the small coffee gardens across Cyahinda near the Nyungwe Forest burst into bloom as the coffee trees flower. Bees pollinate the flowers, and the cherries turn bright red during harvest time between March and July.
Our farmers are all located within three miles of our washing station. This ensures a quick delivery of the freshest beans, fully traceable to individual farms.
This is definitive single origin coffee.
We process fully washed, honey, and natural coffee parchment. Our current processing capacity is 5,000 tons of cherries per season.
All our coffee is hand sorted, pulped, fermented, washed, and sun-dried under shade at our washing station. We then hand select the beans for bagging at our warehouse facility prior to shipping.
From the nursery to the mill, we quality check our coffee at every stage to ensure the best product.
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