The Gitesi Project, Rwanda

Over 1,800 coffee farmers deliver and sell coffee cherries to Gitesi, a privately-owned washing station in Karongi, Rwanda. Farms are generally very small, and all family members have a role in maintaining land, taking care of coffee trees and picking ripe coffee cherries. The gifting of cows to under-resourced households is a practice known as a Girinka program, and in the case of these smallholder farmers, can be an invaluable resource, providing their families with milk for nourishment and sale, as well as organic fertiliser for their crops.

Alexis and Aime Gahizi, the founders and operators of Gitesi Coffee Washing Station, do all the work in Rwanda to make The Gitesi Project impactful. An annual ceremony is organised each year to present cows to families, and farmers are placed into small groups to receive ongoing training to support them to increase incomes and financial security.

The Gitesi Project was born during a stream of WhatsApp messages between Aime and Tim in 2014, after a shipment of Gitesi coffee had been damaged and roasters refused to buy the coffee. It was at this point that Tim realised how vulnerable farmers’ incomes were to factors outside their control, and that a relatively small intervention, such as a dairy cow, could drastically increase a family’s financial wellbeing and health outcomes.

The gifting of cows to under-resourced households is a practice known as a Girinka program, and in the case of these smallholder farmers can be an invaluable resource, providing their families with milk for nourishment and sale, as well as organic fertiliser for their crops.

To date, more than AU$66,000 has been raised to provide more than 75 families with a cow, a cowshed, and access to veterinary services. Since launching, the program has expanded to also provide health insurance for 100 of the community’s poorest farmers each year.

Tim and Aime’s goal in setting up the Gitesi Project is to help provide better financial stability and health outcomes for coffee-farming households in Karongi, Rwanda.