Malawi Mzuzu AA Grade Fair Trade Medium Dark Roast Empowering Women Farmers

This Malawian Fair Trade coffee comes from the Mzuzu Coffee Cooperative Union, comprising six cooperatives with 3000 members, quarter of the members are women owners, it is hoped to increase this to 50% in the next five years. Over the past 17 years the Mzuzu Cooperative has been implementing a new coffee program which focuses on empowering women through coffee farming. Mzuzu’s ambition is that every smallholder has a home with an iron roof, cement floor, plastered walls and adequate ventilation. As well as enabling the farmers to have three meals a day, adequate warm clothing, a warm house and that they are able to send their children to school. We have previously offered the AB grade but have moved onto a SCA scored 81 AA grade bean. The trees are Catimor 129 called Nyika in Malawi and Geisha, the short growing Catimor 129 is resistant to Coffee Leaf Rust and Coffee Berry Disease as well as having a very high yield potential. The introduction of this plant was part of a program financed by the European Union to help the farmers increase yield without the need for costly fungicidal spraying.