Rwanda gains a taste for the coffee it grows<\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/rwandareports.hkbujournalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/coffee1.jpg” align=”center” _builder_version=”3.23.3″][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.23.3″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.23.3″][et_pb_column type=”1_5″ _builder_version=”3.23.3″][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”3.23.3″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.23.3″]
By Hailey Man and Jo Ng<\/strong><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.23.3″ text_font=”Roboto||||||||”] \u201cYou have to question what you are drinking when you are drinking coffee,\u201d said Marie Merci Nsengiyumva, a barista at Question Coffee in Kigali. \u00a0<\/p>\n Established in 2015, Question Coffee not only sells coffee, described by many as the best in town, but also supports local farmers and empowers women to start businesses.<\/p>\n The cafe partners with the non-profit Relationship Coffee Institute to train women coffee farmers how to grow and trade coffee. The women have doubled their income and their yield, the institute\u2019s website says.<\/p>\n Around 62% of women in Rwanda work, many of them as farmers, according to government statistics.<\/p>\n This is a way for the women to earn for their family, schooling for their children, health service and insurance, said Ms Nsengiyumva<\/p>\n \u201cIf there\u2019s no women, there\u2019s no Question Coffee,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s why we work with NGOs to keep providing training to women.\u201d<\/p>\n Rwanda\u2019s coffee industry, which collapsed after the genocide in 1994, expects to earn US$75 million (HK$587.5 million) \u00a0on coffee this year, exporting 97% of its production, according to an interview with the country\u2019s head of coffee<\/a> in the New Times.<\/p>\n Local coffee consumption is still low, compared to tea and in other countries, like the USA, but that is changing, said Ms Nsengiyumva.<\/p>\n \u201cNow people start to know more about coffee. It is getting more acceptable and common among the people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Recently, Kigali has seen a wave of coffee shops opening. But even as the government pushes coffee drinking to develop market stability, it can be hard to change culture.<\/p>\n \u201cCoffee is still a luxury for most of the Rwandans,\u201d said Ignor Jones, a local customer at Question Coffee. \u00a0\u201cThat\u2019s why I drink tea and soda more often.\u201d<\/p>\n