Gasharu CWS Honey Gr A1 - Nyamasheke - Western Province

Name: Gasharu CWS
Location: Macuba Sector, Nyamasheke district, Western Province 
Foundation year: 2014
Manager: Valentin Kimenyi
Number of farmers: 1650
Production: Up to 8 containers
Processing methods:  Natural, Washed, Honey and Anaerobic experiments 
Altitude of the farms: 1600 - 2100 masl
Altitude of the CWS: 1670 masl 
Average yearly rainfall: 1300-1400 mm
Soil: Acidic Soil
Projects: Support farmers in organizing as cooperatives and train them in governance and finances so that they can have savings for the future
Cup profile: Tropical fruits, dark chocolate, red ripe fruit, floral, malic acidity and a smooth elegant body

About Gasharu CWS: Coffee plantations in the Gasharu region benefit from their proximity to the continuous of Nyungwe National Park. They get a good amount of rainfall to make the cherries juicier and the coffee fruity.

[The proximity to the Nyungwe National Park means the farms benefit from great conditions for coffee]
“The Western Province hugs the shoreline of the great Lake Kivu. The landscape of the coffee-growing region is one of the reasons why Rwanda is sometimes called “the land of a thousand hills”. The Nyungwe Forest National Park, one of the largest mountainous forests in the country, is home to huge biodiversity and around 25% of Africa’s primates. This region’s elevation, soil, and climate are what coffee trees love best.”


Throughout the year, Gasharu Coffee holds small group meetings with coffee farmers to catch up on life, discuss the challenges in farming and to discuss opportunities. Though my father and owner of the company Celestin is not an agronomist, he has always received calls from coffee farmers to advise on farming and processing due to his experience in farming. Today I am giving farming advice too. I am one of his nine sons and I  have both farming experience and academic training as an agronomist. I provide more scientific-based farming and harvesting guidance whenever needed.


[Our processing methods create elegant coffees with fruity notes and intense sweetness]


Process: The coffee cherries collected at Gasharu washing station are grown at altitudes ranging between 1700 and 2100 masl. Once collected, the cherries are floated and sorted before passing through a Mckinnon disc pulper. They are then spread out for drying without any washing, leaving part of the pulp around the seeds. We spread the coffee beans thinly on special drying beds and turn them after every hour during 10-15 days so they dry with the needed stability. The result is usually a coffee with fine and elegant attributes associated with the high-end washed coffees coupled up with substantial fruit and body sweetness of the natural coffees.