A trusted voice for coffee communities in Burundi, Rwanda, and Uganda

Kahawatu Foundation is a leading NGO dedicated to improving the livelihoods of coffee communities in East Africa. Initiated in 2013, Kahawatu (‘people’s coffee’ in Swahili) focused on helping smallholder coffee farmers to increase productivity and optimize their income, while working towards economic, social, and environmental sustainability. 

But it's not just farmers we support. At Kahawatu Foundation we invest in projects that will have a positive effect on the pride of coffee communities, such as strengthening the role of women in household decision-making, improving access to education for children, and increasing the availability of primary services like water and sanitation. We have a network of 100,000 coffee farmers in Burundi, Rwanda, and Uganda.

Kahawatu Foundation

Discover nonprofits tackling climate change

Join us in supporting nonprofits working on climate change.

Climate Change

Discover nonprofits supporting agriculture.

Join us in supporting nonprofits working on agriculture.

Agriculture

Join us in supporting nonprofits working with Youth.

Youth

Discover nonprofits supporting poverty alleviation.

Join us in supporting nonprofits working to end poverty.

Poverty Alleviation

Gender Equality

Discover nonprofits supporting entrepreneurship.

Join us in supporting nonprofits working on entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneurship

Curated with [Amplify Her Foundation](https://www.amplifyherfoundation.org/) and the [Women’s Philanthropy Institute](https://philanthropy.indianapolis.iu.edu/institutes/womens-philanthropy-institute/index.html) to raise awareness and funding for women and girls.

Women & Girls

Education

1048940678

Every.org is a nonprofit, so instead of charging fees they rely on the generosity of donors like you.

Choose a donation for Every.org

1258415673

1435915265

1737023302

We are a nonprofit, so instead of charging fees we rely on the generosity of donors like you.

2074652487

240751341

2516130445

2547000601

2624895975

2883383521

339774024

3605944885

3755280456

3794356679

3868271524

3884515653

410756082

496574456

579816602

761293274

772217036

2729980760

3440869557

671754822

1014384873

1112422858

153399038

2028390811

220342792

2266630408

2456389719

2519810400

2539558839

2826465835

2843798242

2898624300

2916352438

3259439560

3583328878

3642494300

3902459442

4054861980

4136002033

4177183036

4250940449

585491400

641510716

91682487

Between now and 26th Sep 2019 every dollar donated to this cause will be generously matched by the MACQUARIE GROUP FOUNDATION under the terms of their grant matching policy 
 
 Coffee is grown by an estimated 9 million farmers in East Africa - most of them smallholders for whom coffee might be the only reliable source of income. In Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda, the average farmer has less than 300 coffee trees - earning $100-300 for an entire household in a year. Most farmers have never been taught that a coffee tree requires careful management in order to produce an optimal yield. At Kahawatu Foundation we teach farmers how to apply Good Agricultural Practices using nothing more than the labor and resources on their farms. Our experience shows that the poorest farmers can double their yield within one year - and the best farmers can ultimately increase their production 3-5 times. Kahawatu has developed methods for training large numbers of small farmers in Farmer Field Schools. Our agronomists encourage farmers to form groups of 30 and help them elect a Lead Farmer to represent the group. Every lead farmer is taken through a full coffee training program which teaches them the good agricultural practices of pruning, mulching, soil management, pest control and harvesting. The leader farmer's farm becomes a demo plot for his or her  group. Crucially, it's a place where each lead farmer can now transmit the same learnings to other members, creating a virtuous cycle of improved practices over time. One agronomist can train 100 Lead Farmers in a year. That's an outreach of 3000 coffee farmers - or as many as 15,000 people who's lives can be improved through better coffee yields, better quality and better payments. Help us hire more agronomists through this campaign. Every USD4,000 raised, allows us to hire an agronomist for a year.

Sponsor an agronomist for a year

Between now and 26th Sep 2019 every dollar donated to this cause will be generously matched by the MACQUARIE GROUP FOUNDATION under the terms of their grant matching policy 
 
 Coffee grown by women - it's a thing, and it has a transformative effect on the position of women in coffee growing communities. In 2014 the Kahawatu Foundation persuaded the Governor of Ngozi Province in Burundi to donate an acre of land to a small women's cooperative with 131 members. The group called themselves Rama Dufatanemunda, or RAMA for short, translating as "let's be united" in their local language. Although most of the women belonged to coffee growing households that were already receiving training from Kahawatu Foundation, they weren't earning enough income to care for their children or themselves. The women of RAMA needed land to attain their goal of supporting some of their household and family needs on their own.  Working together under the guidance of Kahawatu's lead agronomist in the area, the women cleared the land, fertilised the soil and planted 1000 coffee seedlings. It takes three years for coffee to produce a first crop so in the intervening period Kahawatu helped the women plant high yielding varieties of beans which allowed them to earn some income and set up a savings and loans scheme. In 2018 the women harvested their first coffee crop and sold it as a single lot of "coffee grown by women" to a specialty buyer in Europe - and again in 2019. Some of the money has now been re-invested in new land which  generates additional income from the sale of potatoes. But by far the biggest transformation is the way this project has empowered the women of RAMA and given them new pride in their ability to look after their needs and those of their families. Such has been the impact of the project on the members and their immediate community that Kahawatu has since launched four other women's cooperatives in Burundi using the same model. The cost of buying, clearing and planting one acre of land is USD 15,000. Our goal is to launch 5 new projects every year between Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda.

Kahawatu Foundation

Fundraisers

Become a supporter!

.css-1d3w5wq{width:100%;}.css-yi15dt{display:inline-block;--textSize:2rem;--lineHeight:2.4rem;line-height:var(--lineHeight);font-size:var(--textSize);width:100%;}Kahawatu Foundation

Fundraisers

Become a supporter!

Kahawatu Foundation