FEILD NOTES are a series of updates from our team on the ground in Rwanda, seeing first-hand the efforts and impact made by our communities.

January 2022

trees planted: 150,000

distribution: 135,000 coffee seedlings, 15,000 shade trees

families receiving seedlings: 692

land reforested: 42.67 hectares

jobs created: 54

Our field teams across Rwanda distributed 150,000 coffee and shade trees to farmers planning to expand their farms and replace old trees, or to begin coffee farming for the first time. In what has become a pillar of our annual calendar, these trees were given to farmers in our Fellowship Program, but also to hundreds more in the districts where we work, to grow the coffee sector overall. A seemingly simple act, providing these trees reflects anything but. It’s just one step in the year-round process for our teams in seedling production, and just one step in the life-long process of farmers steadily looking for ways to support and strengthen their livelihood.

There’s something comforting in the rhythms of seedling preparation and planting. Certainly not easy, but comforting nonetheless in its predictability. The more we do it the more we settle into the seasons, the activities done in certain months, the elements needed to plan for, prepare for, situate around. In late February, towards the end of Rwanda’s shorter dry season, harvest begins. While most of the harvest is produced for coffee consumption, a small amount of quality coffee cherries are processed to be used as seed. The same seeds- or beans- that we might roast, grind and brew are kept aside to be planted and multiplied. In late March as the rains are beginning again these seeds are placed in the ground, germinating into coffee tree seedlings. By July, in the midst of the long dry season, these tiny seedlings are transplanted into coffee tree nurseries, where they continue to grow under shade and constant care until they have developed healthy roots and are ready to be given to farmers during the shorter rainy season, in mid November. These young coffee trees will strengthen for 2-3 years before they begin flowering and producing coffee cherries. Meanwhile, during each harvest some seeds are kept aside again, planted, germinated, sprouted, and the cycle continues. With proper nurture, the growth is exponential- while most harvest is sold and consumed, some is used purely for the purpose of creating more harvest in the future.

Before each seedling distribution our agronomists collect names of farmers in the area who are interested in receiving trees, and they then spend the next weeks visiting their farms, advising farmers on their capacity and preparation for planting. Coffee is an investment, and farmers need to be fully aware of its requirements before embarking on the journey. Land must be measured, holes dug of appropriate depth and width, plans made for fertilizer, pest and erosion control, weeding and mulching. First harvest is far from immediate- farmers must be patient and long-term in their thinking about production and profits. But for those who are committed to this process, these new trees carry with them great hope- hope of healthier farms, increased production, additional revenue streams, a new way to work their land so that it will work for them, for years to come.

We have big goals for the number of trees we hope to distribute in the coming years, and with each annual cycle we learn more about the best ways to move forward. There is much ground work needed in every season; identifying the best cherries, selecting the best seed, understanding the right time for each action, building healthy nurseries, and mobilizing farmers who are serious about the health and future of their farms. But the impact is real, as we are seeing old and under-producing farms revitalized with new cultivation, farmers eager to expand and improve their production, and regions which weren’t coffee focused in the past now turning out sizable, high quality harvests. As this year’s distribution approaches, we mark another celebration of this growth, of everything in the past year that’s brought us here and of all the potential seen by farmers in each new tree.

A huge and continuous thanks to One Tree Planted for financially partnering with us in the preparation and distribution of these trees, and for all their work around the globe.