66. Leat at Origin Training in Kayanza, Burundi

Jan. 31 - Feb. 3, 2017
COCOCA is an umbrella organization of about 32 cooperatives in Burundi. Dusangirijambo is one of the most innovative and energetic among the group. The Dusangirijambo president is Rémége NZOBIRINDA.

They are a warm and friendly people, welcoming me on the day I arrived with an awesome performance by a drum & dance group! Some of the drummer/dancers were boys, maybe 12 years old. Very talented! And most of them, I was told, are coffee farmers.

Dusangirijambo organized a fantastic drum & dance performance for my welcome!

I enjoyed my week with this cooperative so much. The first day we scoped out how I would teach in their "reception building", the concrete block pavilion where farmers bring their cherry in bags to have them weighed, and then the bags are emptied into big, waiting concrete tanks. Fortunately, I had been warned there would be no electricity at this location, so I was not expecting to be able to use a powerpoint projector. I had printed key slides onto flipchart size paper and John (my husband) had rigged up a special hanger for the flipcharts that only required one, or if possible, two nails to hang!

One-room school house.

Leadership Training: The first two days were with the leadership of Dusangirijambo. The leadership training went well. We covered the concepts of Lean, like "Lean is not Mean", "flow" and the all-important, "9 wastes." The group enjoyed the practice exercises like "6S scoring" and an airplane production simulation.

Leadership Training, Jan. 31 & Feb. 1

Supervisor Training: The second two days were with the supervisor level and more of the workers. I gave a brief introduction to the key concepts, like the 9 wastes, and then we jumped into preparing to implement their first KAIZEN. Most of the second day was spent in their teams, working on the following three projects:
Team 1. Increase space on drying tables for coffee by 10%
Team 2. Increase skill of management of the drying tables (this area has the most employees)
Team 3. Double the space where the dry coffee is stored (warehouse).

Supervisor Training, Feb. 2 & 3

Results of KAIZEN events
The results of these "first time" KAIZEN projects were modest. Despite my over-emphasis and constant reminders that KAIZEN is about action, not talk, it is not easy to break through the cultural barriers of "who does which work." And, unfortunately, we really did not have much time. They had about 2 hours instead of a full day to work on implementation.

For example, team 1, tasked with increasing capacity of the tables, recommended a place where 70 more tables should be built. All around us on this day there were teams of builders re-building the current drying tables and these workers had been hired to do that job. So it just felt too strange to my Lean class members to start doing the same job these others were being paid to do, right along side them.

But, in this case, there was also a break-through moment. A senior leader said, "what if we just make sure we remove the coffee from the tables at exactly the right time?" It was brilliant! Everyone agreed and suddenly everyone was understanding what we meant about improving the "flow" of material. It was agreed that the cooperative would save about 700,000 BUF (the cost of 70 tables, about $440) if the improved timing worked as well as they hoped.

Team 2 did an excellent job discussing the metrics that a manager of the drying table staff could implement to monitor and control capacity and quality.

Team 3 made a checklist for the area (a big improvement) and included concepts of safety (one of the 9 wastes) and straightening (one of the 6S areas). Overall, though they were  too much "thinking in the box," though, proposing to raise the roof of the warehouse 8 meters to make more space at a cost of 10 million BUF (~ $7,000). When I reminded them, "there's no budget", then a breakthrough idea came! "Maybe we could have the trucks come to pick up the coffee more frequently. We own the trucks, so it is not very expensive." It was a "eureka!" moment.

Most of them understood how important this lean concept was, of keeping the flow going, eliminating the "waste" of stoppage and waiting. But to drive it home I said, "how many would like to have 10 million BUF more in the cooperative budget when it comes time to pay bonuses at the end of the season?" Everyone raised their hand with enthusiasm! I believe we then had 100% comprehension of why the cooperative should implement Lean.

KAIZEN Team 1 - Increase space on drying tables by 10%.

KAIZEN Team 2 - Increase skills of management of drying tables area.

KAIZEN Team 3: Double the space where the coffee will be stored.

Ruth and Jean Bosco NKURIKIYE (translator) co-teaching

Class in session.

65. Ejo Heza Women Improve Their Lives with Microcredit

January 25, 2017

Members of the Ejo Heza microcredit group and cooperative.

Today I had the joy and honor to revisit the leaders of the Ejo Heza women's group - a sub-group of the KOPAKAMA cooperative in the Rutsiro district of western Rwanda. [See this earlier blog post, too.] On this sunny day at their hilltop washing station overlooking stunning Lake Kivu, about 20 of the women were meeting with their microcredit savings & loan facilitator Claude.

To be a member of the microcredit group the women commit to putting their bonus money from coffee sales into their microcredit savings account. On top of that, they contribute 500 RWF (about $.60) per week. They asked me to help them get more buyers for their coffee so that they can put more money in their savings accounts. I told them I would try! There are about 125 women in the microcredit group and 280 in the women's coffee cooperative.

I asked if they would be willing, and they agreed, to share a couple of stories of how microcredit has helped them augment the income they have from coffee. The average woman in the group has 500 coffee trees.

UWIMNANA Teresa

1. UWIMANA Teresa: "I didn't have a good life before. But then with my saving and my coffee bonuses, I was able to get my first micro-loan of RWF 30,000 (~$36). I bought goods that I sold on the Kibuye-Congo Nile trail to travelers. I was able to pay back that loan, and get a new one for RWF 150,000 (~$180). With this loan I could open a small boutique shop which makes me happy. I am able to make my loan payments on time."

2.  MUKAGIRWA Vestin: "I borrowed RWF 30,000 (~$36) to buy beans [the edible kind] during the peak season for beans. I stocked these beans until the season when there are not so many in the market. Then I was able to sell my beans at a higher price. I was able to use the money to pay back the loan and to pay school fees for my children. Now I am using another loan to buy beans again."

Ideally we could gather statistics on the payback rate of this fledgling microcredit program or a study to show that it is having an overall positive impact. Without these things it is inaccurate to say the program is a huge success for the community. But certainly from these two stories and the smiles and interest I saw on the faces of the women who were there that day, it seemed that microcredit and their coffee cooperative was definitely a benefit to their lives.

A sample page from the ledger the coordinator keeps, recording each 60 cent savings deposit.

63. Cost of Production research paper announced

November 9, 2016
Feeling a little proud and anxious today as Michigan State University announced to my department, (Community Sustainability in the College of Natural Resources), that I will defend my "Masters B Project" on January 11. Below is the announcement. All invited!

Estimating Farmer Cost of Production: Implications for

Sustainable Growth in Rwanda’s Coffee Sector

Master’s B Project Proposal Defense

By Ruth Ann Church

Wednesday, January 11, 2017, 10:00am

Room 130 Natural Resources Building

A better understanding of costs of production is essential to understanding the profitability and sustainability of coffee in Rwanda where the crop is a main source of household income at the farm level, and of export revenue at the national level. Toward this end the present research seeks first to provide an analysis of the major components of producer cost of production. Further, the study describes a methodology and quantitative estimation process that can be used to collect the necessary data and generate CoP estimates in other coffee producing countries with predominantly smallholder production. Applied to Rwanda, the estimation procedures arrive at mean and median CoP values of 177 RWF/KG and 122 RWF/KG cherry, respectively. These costs for many farmer groups are higher than the average cherry prices being paid in Rwanda. This finding has serious implications for Rwanda’s long-term production as the country continues its transition into higher quality and higher priced specialty coffee markets.

In addition to satisfying the above dual objectives, (an analysis of components of CoP and an estimation methodology) this study provides an analysis of five external determinants of coffee cost of production and how they affect farmer costs in Rwanda: number of trees, years of farmer’s experience, cooperative membership, gender of head of household, and steepness of the slope of the coffee field. The research shows that the number of trees on a farm plantation is significantly and inversely related to CoP. It is recommended that this finding be used to guide both the design and the evaluation of farmer training programs. Programs should maximize impact by seeking to target their resources according to the scale of the targeted coffee producer. The study also shows how the main determinants of CoP can help to explain notable regional differences in production costs.   

With this research on costs of production, those who set cherry prices in Rwanda and those who purchase coffee anywhere in the coffee value chain are better able to adjust the incentive structure to motivate Rwanda’s coffee farmers to invest in their coffee plantations and to raise their productivity levels. We recommend that the cost of production estimated in this study (177 RWF/KG cherry) be incorporated into the formula and process for determining the floor price for coffee cherry in Rwanda. We also see the need for steps to regularly update CoP estimates in the future.  Tracking such cost estimates over time will be helpful to NAEB and washing stations in their strategic planning and as well as day-to-day management decisions. A more accurate formula for establishing cherry floor prices based on multiple years of data will be an essential step towards ensuring Rwanda’s “second sunrise” for coffee.

Committee Members:

Dr. Daniel C. Clay (Chair)

Dr. Maria Claudia Lopez

62. Serious Potato Taste Defect "Fall Out"

Oct. 24, 2016
I spent the past week on the North American West Coast -- Los Angeles and Vancouver to be specific. I visited roasters in both cities and the Swiss Water Decaffeination Coffee Co. in Burnaby. My plan was to promote interest in the Rwandan Ejo Heza coffee that Artisan Coffee Imports is bringing in to Oakland in January. I got a clear reminder of just how serious the potato taste defect (PTD) "fall-out" is among specialty coffee buyers. Too many have been "stung" too many times. Many told me "we just stopped buying it."

This is difficult but probably not "new" news for stakeholders in Rwanda's coffee industry. Many producers and exporters in Kigali and its environs have expressed to me frustration with an inability to increase volumes with specialty buyers. I suspect a few know they have lost buyers due to potato taste, but probably many do not realize that this is the reason a small specialty buyer did not return. Therefore in a recent survey of the 16 washing stations in the AGLC project, 56% said they had at least one problem with potato taste in the past year, but only one said a customer had rejected a load due to PTD. (The survey did not ask how many customers the Producer Organization thought they had lost, only how many had rejected a shipment.)

Meanwhile, ICO data shows the following downward trend for Rwanda's production. The causes for the production declines are more complex than "just" PTD, of course. The AGLC research team has written papers on issues related to productivity, motivation and capacity (link here). All of these "root" causes affect PTD also, we just don't have numbers yet to say exactly how.

Figure: Rwanda’s Arabica green coffee production trend is downward. Source: ICO

Below are a few quotes I heard while on the road. But don't get discouraged - especially if you're a buyer or a producer. Each of the people I talked to were happy to hear that research continues to reduce and eliminate PTD root causes. Most were willing to consider trying another batch of Rwandan or Burundian coffee, even if they had been avoiding it intentionally for years. They all know the great taste that it can have, and they miss it!

"[On potato taste] I'm at the point of withdrawl. I'm so tired of it. I get a great Burundi or Rwanda and then 'bam!' the potato smell hits you as you brew. I've trained my staff to notice it, but I just don't want the hassle."  ~ small, micro-roaster with retail outlet in Culver City, CA (Los Angeles neighborhood).

"We are focusing on providing micro-lot, specialty decaffeinated coffee, but we cannot take out defects -- only the caffeine. We can't buy Rwandan, Burundian or Congo coffee and decaffeinate because if even one of those beans gets into the system it could ruin the entire batch and more than 7,000 lbs of coffee."  ~ executive at Swiss Water Process

"We stopped buying Rwanda a couple years ago. Too many incidents of potato defect. We pride ourselves on great tasting coffee, so it's just too risky."   ~ green buyer for Vancouver roaster buying ~ 20 containers/year

"We have to train the baristas very carefully to detect PTD and throw away the batch. Seems like every Rwanda or Burundi has a few, but with the very high quality ones (like Gaharo from Long Miles Coffee Project), the incidents have been very, very few."  ~ high-end roaster in Costa Mesa, CA (Los Angeles neighborhood)