The Congolese province of South Kivu is known as a dangerous region where violence and looting are the order of the day. This makes it hard for local coffee growers to manage their coffee plantations or to sell their coffee at a good price.
RAEK (Regroupement des Agriculteurs et Eleveurs de Kabare) was established in 1992. The organisation defends the interests of smallholders in the Kabare territory and supports their value chain activities (production, harvesting, processing and commercialisation). In the spring of 2010 an Oxfam Solidarity team paid RAEK a visit. The team was impressed with the efforts made by the Congolese organisation to improve the living conditions of its members. And they saw the productive potential of RAEK and the remarkable quality of its coffee beans. Together with Oxfam-Wereldwinkels they started up a project, called “Café du Kivu: Improved revenue and living conditions for farmers and their families through better market access”. This project receives financial support from the Trade for Development Centre.
