Maraba Cooperative – Case Study

Francois Habimana, director of the Maraba Cooperative, talks to a coffee farmer. Membership in Maraba has grown from 300 members in 2001 to 1,568 in 2004. (Photo by Sue Nichols, University Relations, MSU)

In the wake of the genocide, Maraba was one of the poorest districts in Rwanda. In addition to the devastation of war, farmers struggled with low prices for their low grade of coffee, with corruption and with smugglers.

“We didn't know anything beyond the Rwandan borders,” said Francoise Habimana, director of the Maraba Coffee Cooperative. “No one in the area knew what an American dollar was.”

The PEARL plan brought not only a washing station; it brought a window to a new world. The success is in the numbers:

• In 2001, there were 300 farmers in the cooperative. Now there are 1,568.

• The price they got for coffee in 2001: 180 rwf (about 32 cents) per kilogram. The price in 2004: 500 rwf (about 88 cents) per kilogram.

• Bank line of credit in 2001: 200 million rwf; in 2004: 92 million rwf.

• The coffee from PEARL projects is being sold in Europe, the United Kingdom and, increasingly, in the United States.

But numbers don't tally all the profit. The joy throbs off the mountains of Rwanda under the Maraba motto “abahugamuambi ba kawa,” which means “we work together for coffee.”

Other benefits of a PEARL cooperative:

• Education improvements: the cooperative gives farmers credits to ensure children's education, which the farmer can repay.

• Health insurance.

• Savings promotion: the project helps farmers start savings plans and teach money management skills to reinvest in the farms.

In Maraba, the sense of community and pride is evident even by walking down the dusty village streets. Farmers eagerly crowd into the low, rough rooms of the cooperative office. The room has a dirt floor, windows without glass – and new computers.

Dance, and singing troupes, and even a rock band, have been formed to sing the praises of coffee and its rejuvenating properties.

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