Washing station: Nkora
Co-operative: Cocanko
Manager: Kabayehe Pierre Claver
Location: Nkora village, Mushonyi sector, Rutsiro district, in the Western Province by the Lake Kivu
Members: 2253 smallholder farmers and 396 members of Cocanko
Average size of the farms: 0.5 ha
Altitude of the farms: From 1400m to 1850m
Soil: Volcanic
Altitude of the washing station: 1450m
Rainfall: 1250mm/year
Process: This is only the second year that Nkora produces natural processed coffees. The cherries are sorted and floated before going on raised beds for 21 days. A moisture meter is used to monitor the drying stage and the coffee beds are covered when the solar radiation is too intense to avoid the parchment from cracking open. Nkora is proud to have experienced members of staff in charge of quality control. The same group manages the washing station since 2008, making sure protocols are followed to ensure high-quality standards
Cup profile: Red ripe fruit, tropical fruits, citrus, cacao nibs, floral, sparkling acidity and smooth body
Nkora is a piece of Rwanda’s history. It was built in 1957, before the independence in 1962, by the Office Des Cultures Industrielles Du Rwanda (OCIR) in the Mushinyi sector, Rutsiro district, Western Province. It is the oldest and biggest washing station in the country. Until the early 2000’s it stood alone. Back in the 1950s, Rwanda was still one of Belgium’s colonies. It was the Belgian who decided to build Nkora, kickstarting a project that would only take off decades later, after the genocide against the Tutsi.
According to Caferwa’s financial and business development manager Emmanuel Harelima, “The Belgians wanted to introduce a new model to the country, following market trends, but they concluded it wasn’t viable at that time. The government couldn’t continue the project as the market wasn’t as sophisticated as it is today.” Emmanuel refers to the production of washed coffees by other East-African countries such as Kenya and Burundi. It took Nkora nearly 50 years to see its destiny achieved.
Caferwa, an exporting company created in 1995, bought the washing station in 2003. It had been refurbished in 1986 by OCIR and it was further renovated by Caferwa. With guidance from Kenyan and Burundian professionals brought in by the government, Nkora became Rwanda’s pioneer producer of washed coffees, a process that would lead the local coffee sector to where it is today.
Despite being managed by Caferwa, Nkora is supplied by Cocanko (Cooperative Des Cafeiculteurs De N'Kora) Co-operative. Nkora is named after a small fishing village located by the shores of the Lake Kivu and it is also the name of one of the 8 first co-operatives created in Rwanda after the enactment of the law for rural co-operatives (Georwanda, Somuki, Impala, Nkora, Abahizi, Trafipro, Thé-Ntendezi and Codar). The nearest city is Gisenyi.
Cocanko has 396 members and buys cherries from 2253 smallholder farmers within the same zone. Due to government support, there has been a boom in the construction of washing stations in Rwanda after the 2000s, going from one to more than 300.
There are around 10 other washing stations near Nkora. The internal market for cherries is so competitive that, in 2016, the National Agriculture Exports Development Board (NAEB) implemented a new regulation known as “zoning”. Now, farmers have to sell cherries within their specific zones, encouraging the development of long-term relationships between farmers and washing stations.
