“We are the salt of KOPAKAMA, though the majority of the cooperative’s members are men. Without us the cooperative wouldn’t even be here - it is us who nag the men to join and participate!
No, we can’t yet compare KOPAPAMA to the Parliament of Rwanda where 56% of members, including the Speaker, are women, but we are heading there. There are 192 of us and we represent 23% of the 823 members of the cooperative. Three of us have been on the board since 2004: one of us is vice president, and another is president of the internal control committee. That is how much we are trusted.
Why talk about ourselves?
“We are survivors not only of the 1994 genocide and war but also of the huge challenges we face every day in our families and communities. Not long ago, before the new inheritance law was enacted in 2000, women in Rwanda couldn’t own a coffee garden. Against our will we were denied the right to be landowners! That is history. Nowadays Rwandese women can and do own land and of course coffee gardens. Many of our husbands have given us plots with coffee and others have allocated us parts of their plots to manage, harvest and sell. That means that for the first time we have our own income from coffee to spend as we like. Before that the men got the money and controlled how it was spent.
“With our coffee income we women pay school fees for our children and we buy medicines. We buy things for the house, and we can buy ourselves clothes, especially the African wraps we always wear.”
“Together we produced 4000kg of green coffee last season. The season was bad because there was a very small crop. But the great thing is that we have sold the coffee at a good price, which will make a big difference to our lives. Next year we will have a much bigger crop, so we are full of hope
What next?
“Our plan is to bring in more young women in particular. It is breaking our heart to see how high the teenage pregnancy rate is in our community. We intend to set up a formal women’s association and to start new activities like non agricultural income generating activities to motivate the younger generation. Women’s coffee from KOPAKAMA is the way forward!”
