Dispatches
Rwandan Coffee: When time is money, custom coffee cargo bikes are a farmer’s best friend
April 19, 2008
Once a coffee cherry is harvested, the bean inside the cherry swiftly begins to degrade. Within 7 hours, fermentation substantially decreases the value of the farmer’s crop, effectively melting it from premium product to c-list dregs as minutes pass. It’s an agricultural version of “24″ without the standoffs and screaming into cell phones - instead there are big bags loaded with coffee cherries and 5 miles of dicey roads between the farmer on foot and the finish line at the washing station. The speed of a farmer’s delivery directly influences whether their harvest is a windfall or a pittance, determining a number of financial consequences, including whether they can afford to send their kids to school or not.
Tick tock, indeed.
Mountain bike pioneer Tom Ritchey founded Project Rwanda after a trip to the region in 2005, partnering with SPREAD to assist Rwanda’s rural farmers by “furthering the economic development of Rwanda through initiatives based on the bicycle as a tool and symbol of hope.” Ritchey created a custom cargo bike created for coffee farmers, designed tough enough to endure Rwanda’s rugged terrain and strong enough to haul up to 400 lbs.
SPREAD, Bikes to Rwanda, Vision Finance, and Scallywags Bike Shop united behind the farmers’ cause and, thanks to their efforts, there are over 1,000 coffee cargo bikes in Rwanda, empowering farmers to get their crops to washing stations more quickly, ensuring that they get optimal payment for their efforts. Through a micro-credit system offered within coffee cooperatives, farmers are able to pay for their bikes with the additional income they earn from the increased quality of their coffee. In addition, for the numerous days that coffee doesn’t have to be sped to market, coffee bikes contribute to a better quality of life for farmers and their families, enabling them to haul anything you can imagine without the burden of fueling up a gas tank - construction materials, crates of chickens, treetops of bananas, furniture, family members… really, you have to see it to believe it…
A round of applause to the tremendous efforts and overwhelmingly positive results from the work of SPREAD and Project Rwanda that have helped invigorate the economy, improving lives and elevating a product and profession that Rwandans can be extremely proud of… well done.
More information at: http://www.spreadproject.org/
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