The Coffee Cooperative Offering a Gainful Start to Former Child Soldiers

Idjwi island, sitting in Lake Kivu on the border of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda, has been a coffee-growing community for decades, but until recently, development was prevented by the ongoing civil unrest in the DRC. The island was plagued by violence as it became a popular retreat for Congolese rebels, Tutsi refugees from Rwanda, and Hutu fighters who used it as a base from which to conduct raids across the border. Because of the unrest and a lack of formal markets in the DRC, coffee growers on the island could sell their produce only by smuggling it across the lake into Rwanda, a dangerous enterprise that resulted in deaths and undercut farmers’ incomes because their vulnerability left them unable to negotiate.

To Gilbert Makelele, a resident of the island, it was clear that the coffee farmers needed to establish a business model that could reduce casualties, secure higher prices for their produce, and develop the economy of the island. To that end, in 2012, Makelele established Cooperative des Planteurs et Negociants de Café au Kivu (CPNCK)—a cooperative business structure enabling the farmers to collectively bargain for better prices and access lines of credit and other support that had previously been out of reach because of high interest rates. Taking a novel approach, CPNCK began to offer interest-free loans from a revolving credit fund—bolstered by a combination of grants and membership fees—enabling members to buy agricultural inputs such as fertilizers, other crops including soybeans, and goats for pastoralism. Since being established in 2012, CPNCK has grown to 2,388 members—including 433 women, many of whom are the widows of coffee growers who died while smuggling.

After establishing itself through considerable adversity, CPNCK in 2018 won a capacity-building grant from USADF, which has enabled the cooperative to commercialize its operations by taking over more of the value chain. In addition to growing the coffee beans, CPNCK now also washes, dries, and packages the coffee, which increases its quality and makes it more attractive to commercial buyers. The next year, as a result of integrating and strengthening the value chain, and training farmers in more efficient and sustainable agricultural practices, CPNCK sold more than 96,000 kilos of coffee internationally, and has supplied brands in the USA and Europe, including Starbucks. To Makelele, USADF’s direct funding of African businesses, rather than charities or other non-governmental organizations, has transformed economic development and growth within the DRC.

Economic development and opportunity are key drivers of peace in the DRC and the wider African Great Lakes region, according to Makelele, who sees his work as directly linked to peacebuilding. CPNCK employs more than 250 ex-combatant members, former rebels, and child soldiers who fought with insurgent groups. Many, particularly the child soldiers, came to Idjwi after being rejected by their home communities, which view them as irredeemable criminals. Makelele believes that this is the wrong way to bring peace to the DRC after so many years of fighting. Rather, ex-combatants need to have access to reliable work and a steady income, so that they no longer need to fight to earn a living, can have more stable lives, and can become good citizens and community members. He has witnessed the transformation of young people’s lives since he founded the cooperative, with many ex-combatants taking on leadership roles in the cooperative. In addition, Makelele has found that women’s equal participation as members of the cooperative provides them with the income and economic power to lead and influence their community. After many years of violence and instability, Idjwi island is now peaceful and trying to become an ecotourist destination. As part of this effort, CPNCK has begun offering tours of its farms and processing sites to visitors.

The coronavirus pandemic has harmed the cooperative: Input prices have risen because of import restrictions, making coffee growing more expensive and reducing profit margins. Fulfilling already agreed-upon contracts also have been delayed because of travel restrictions and border closures. However, Makelele and the rest of CPNCK are taking this time to reassess their goals and are moving ahead with plans. They have expanded their activities once again to include coffee roasting, integrating another part of the value chain into their business. And they have ambitious plans to promote coffee drinking within the DRC in hopes that their business can supply growing demand in their home country as well.