BURUNDI Gahahe

Gahahe washing station is located in Gahahe in Kayanza province. The washing station lies at 1,805 meters above sea level and can process up to 750 metric tons of cherry per season.

Many trees in Burundi are Red Bourbon. The average smallholder has approximately 250 trees, normally in their backyards. During the harvest season, coffee is selectively hand-picked, almost entirely by the family. The average producer sells about 200-300 kg of cherry annually.

Much of this small-scale production is of exceptional quality, with its super sweet, clean and often floral coffees.

Before exportation, coffee is sorted by a team of hand-pickers to ensure zero defects. It takes a team of two hand-pickers a full day to look over a single bag. During high season, 10% of Burundi’s capital population is employed to process coffee.