Burundi
Burundi is known as "The Heart of Africa" and is three degrees south of the equator. Slightly smaller than Maryland, it is landlocked—bordered by Rwanda to the north, Lake Tanganyika and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west and Tanzania to the east.
- Geography: It also is called the land of a 1,001 hills, a nod to its verdant, rolling countryside. Those hills and mountains give the country elevation that produces premium coffee.
- Population: 8.3 million.
- Population below the poverty line: 68 percent.
- Capital: Bujumbura.
- Independence: 1962, from United Nations trusteeship under Belgian administration.
- Languages: Kirundi and French.
About Burundi coffee…
- Type of coffee: 96 percent highly prized “mild Arabicas,” predominantly bourbon and typica varieties, more than 80 percent fully washed.
- Exports: 36,000 tons in 2004, representing more than 80 percent of Burundi’s total exports.
- Coffee farming families: 800,000 households cultivating an average of 150-200 trees.
- Washing stations: 160+, 64 privately owned
- Prices: Coffee growers are historically among the lowest paid in the region.
