Lately, the thought of sitting down to reflect on the past year has felt like an overwhelming task. What really happened to 2020? It goes without saying that last year was unlike any other. For us, 2020 held challenges that were unique to the season and challenges that aren’t all that ‘unprecedented’ when it comes to producing coffee.
When Kristy and I started Long Miles Coffee we never dreamed of doing anything beyond producing coffee outside the small village of Bukeye in the high mountains of Burundi. Ten years after our first days in Burundi we find ourselves with three washing stations in Burundi and fresh into the inaugural season of Long Miles Kenya.
The coffee farmers we work with have always been central to who we are, but until 2017 their stories were always filtered and shared by me- an outsider looking in. We began Long Miles thinking we knew what farmers needed, but could we really know if we never experienced life through their eyes?
Are organic farming practices the solution to improving soil health and productivity of coffee in Burundi? If it is, what would an intentional shift towards organic farming look like?
What is Farmer Payday and why is it a significant event for coffee farmers in Burundi? Why is rain a big challenge for coffee export in Burundi? What processes occur at the dry mill?
There is an undeniable connection between coffee growers in Burundi, the health of their soil, and the coffee we drink. We’ve been dreaming about an indigenous tree reforestation project in Burundi for the last couple of years. For a long time, we didn’t know what it would look like. All we knew is what we …
