Coffee Awakens a National Economy

Opportunity brews: SPREAD, a USAID-funded development alliance of institutes, industries and NGOs, spotted the potential for Rwandan coffee to become a powerful economic driver for a recovering nation: a widely produced crop that could demand top dollar if a premium product was consistently delivered to market. Rwandan coffee has come through as economic manna from Rwandan fields, demanding a premium price on the international coffee market thanks to SPREAD’s commitment to quality control, coffee producer education, support and marketing: creation of coffee washing stations and assisting in the arrival of over 1,000 coffee cargo bikes in Rwanda, vehicles that help farmers get larger payloads to washing stations more quickly, improving product quality and assure that farmers receive optimal payment for their harvests.