Rwanda will for the third time host the 19th African Fine Coffees Conference and Exhibition (AFCC&E), a joint organising committee announced today during a launch ceremony held at Kigali Convention Centre.
The announcement to host the African coffee dialogue and business platform was made by the committee comprised of the National Agricultural Export Development Board (NAEB) and the African Coffee Association (AFCA).
Rwanda has previously hosted the coffee event in 2009 and 2019 and it will make a comeback after a two-year break due to the COVID-19 pandemic which disrupted the event since 2020.
This year’s event will be held from February 15th to 17th, 2023 at the Kigali Convention Center in Kigali, under the theme “Shared value for Sustainability in the African Coffee Industry” bringing together over 1,000 participants from all coffee value chain players globally.
Participants will range from the smallholder and large scale coffee producers, processors, traders, government, NGOs to regional and international coffee exporters and roasters among others; who will discuss sustainable coffee business amidst the calls for a better living income for the producers as well as impacts of climate change on production and productivity.
The conference will give a good opportunity to Rwanda to showcase their unique coffee profiles that are world renown for their specialty quality on one hand and a platform for the coffee producing countries in Africa to display their premium coffees to the world.
NAEB CEO Claude Bizimana said Coffee continues to play an important part in Africa’s economy and positively impacts the lives of hundreds of thousands of small producers and their families in Rwanda, and has made a significant contribution to foreign exchange revenues and the monetisation of the rural economy.
“Because of the efforts of these small-holder farmers, the quality of our coffee is now recognized globally. Bringing this event to Rwanda honours their work and reminds them that they are crucial to Rwanda’s coffee success story,” Bizimana said during the press briefing.
Amir Hamza, Chairman of the board of Africa Fine Coffees Association congratulated the Rwandan Government, the Rwandan AFCA Chapter and the leadership of NAEB for their contribution in organising the event and on behalf of AFCA, promised a strong collaboration to make the 19th AFCC&E successful.
Rwanda Coffee Snapshot:
Rwanda’s national coffee production targets range from 267, 000 to 420,000 bags per year, and data as of June 2022 shows that the country had reached 2,061,112 with $75.5M in coffee revenues realised and a projected $82M by end of this year.
Rwandan women drying coffee beans.
Currently, ca. 400,000 small holder farm families produce it and depend on it for their livelihoods. Coffee was introduced by Germans in the early 1900s, it is dominated by mainly ‘bourbon’ types of Arabica coffees.
The production ranges from 267, 000 to 420,000 bags per year (16 000 MT to 21000MT). The total area in coffee is currently 42,000 hectares grown and it is grown in most provinces in the country at an altitude less than 1900m.
