Burundi Umuco W'ikawa Fair Trade Hand Sorted Cherries Whole Coffee Beans

Umuco W’ikawa is a region in South-western Burundi, one of the poorest counties in the world. Coffee revenues account for 80% of the country’s export earnings. 55% of the population, or 750,000 families, more than four million people, depend on coffee cultivation, the majority of whom are smallholders. Nearly two/thirds of Burundians live below the poverty line and 60% are chronically malnourished. Income from coffee farming is, for a large part of the population, the difference between hunger and food security. Umuco W’ikawa translates directly as Coffee Culture or more poetically perhaps, ‘Light of the Coffee’. The variety grown in this area is the Arabica Bourbon, and given the terroir of this high altitude produces a coffee with a distinct sharpness, together with a sweet and fruity note as well as a delicate acidity, giving hints of pineapple, grapefruit, and tangerines. Due the lack of financial means to purchase pesticides and artificial fertilisers the coffee is mainly organic; however, this lack of finance also means that the farmers can’t afford to pay to have their coffee classified as organic, thereby being able to get a better price for their hard work, ironic really.