Our Approach to the Coffee Value Chain

The laws and regulations influencing coffee production vary greatly in every coffee-producing country, leading to unique challenges and opportunities in each. The Rwandan government has created an infrastructure and pricing enforcements to provide a basic level of support for coffee farmers that doesn’t exist in many other origins, ensuring that farmers generally are able to sell their harvest for a fair price. The continual gaps, however, are in farmers’ abilities to invest in their farms well to maximize their production, and in trained business perspectives to leverage their assets for further economic growth. This is where our Fellowship Program focuses its efforts, believing that with increased coffee production and increased new revenue, farmers can experience substantial increases in income.


In recent years predictive models have shown that up to 50% of the world’s current coffee producing regions will no longer be viable due to climate change. At the same time, global demands for coffee continue to surge, with growing economies like China and India experiencing new upticks in coffee consumption. While huge coffee producers such as Brazil, Vietnam, and Columbia (who together make up 63% of global production) will have to wrestle with the challenge of shifting their coffee farms to new parts of the country, many smaller producers will have the opportunity to increase production and global demand, due to the flexibility of smaller farms and more focused investment. With the right resources and support, farmers in countries such as Rwanda can be well positioned to respond to the shifting dynamics of the global coffee sector.


In 2019 Kula launched a sister company registered in Rwanda to own and operate Ntango Coffee Washing Station in Nyamasheke District near Lake Kivu. The vision was three fold: provide increased value and support to farmers in the region by being more fully involved in the supply chain; gain learning and experience in every step of bringing coffee from the farm to end consumers; and ultimately create a new revenue stream to support Kula’s ongoing work supporting farmers. With a small and focused team, the company continues to pursue this vision and find opportunities for sustainable growth.

If you’re interested to learn more about our washing station operations or the coffee available, contact us.

Our Coffee Partners