Non-profit Rawmaterial has described the impact of massive floods and landslides have had on the Rwanda community in the Shyira and Vunga regions where coffee farming accounts for the majority of income for many families.
On 7th May 2020, devastating rains, flooding and heavy mudslides hit the Nyabihu District in northern Rwanda. Nyabihu is home to the families that produce the popular Shyira and Vunga coffees you may know and love. We are deeply saddened to report that 28 members of these communities lost their lives in the flood.
courtesy of rawmaterial.coffee website
Rawmaterial is a nonprofit who work in the coffee sector to help farmers make a living from the infamously volatile coffee market. You can read about their work at the bottom of their home page. They point out that in Rwanda, for the affected area:
- Farming families rely on coffee for 65% of their income.
- Families typically own 0.4 Ha producing about 288kg of parchment coffee per year.
- Household incomes are less than USD$700/annum.
A fundraiser has been set up a gofundme where you can help the poor families devastaed by this distaster. It will not take a lot from each of us to make a huge difference.
The campaign has been set up by Raw Materials who have history and credibility as a non-profit and have been quick to demonstrate transparency with how the funds need to be used.
We would like to thank Mat North from @fcpcoffee on instagram for bringing this story to our attention.
