A New School A New Beginning
A New School A New Beginning
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Author

JOSH HOPPEN
PROVENANCE HUB

LAST UPDATED

18th February
2021

READING TIME

APPROX
5 minutes

THE MUSENYI PROJECT & RED ROASTER

In 2016 while some of the Red Roaster team were working in Rwanda sampling and sourcing coffee they realised that if they changed their business just a small amount then they would be able to make quite a sizeable difference to the lives of some of the coffee farmers and people resettled following the genocide in the country.

That was the start of their involvement in the project, and since then they have donated part of their profits and their team given their time. Their roastery team also spend time in the country helping with the coffee crop.

Red Roaster began in 2016 with the construction of additional classrooms for the school in Musenyi, which now complete, means that 200 children can now receive an education locally without having to travel long distances and stay away from home. Of course, they didn’t just turn up in Rwanda and start building. Red Roaster work together with a charity called New Beginnings, in particular with its founders Jaqui Turner and Malcolm Clear, who are also based in Sussex. Jaqui and Malcolm began the program back in 2008, they oil the wheels, know the local area and people intimately, put pressure on the government and have enabled all of the work to proceed.

‘We have always bought locally and responsibly, managed our energy and waste carefully, and have worked to improve our environmental impact over the years. It therefore made perfect sense for us to work with coffee communities at origin, to give back and help improve the lives of those communities that our roastery buys from.’

WIDER COMMUNITY GOALS

The school construction was the just the first part of a wider project for the village that has included the provision of safe drinking water, building a community centre, as well as supplying farm equipment and training. In 2017/18 we began raising raising money for a health post for the village to be able to treat up to 900 patients a month, construction of which is now complete.

With these key infrastructure projects now completed the village can reach self-sufficiency, meaning they can run day to day without further contributions. That said, Red Roaster continue to support and fund further construction and maintenance projects to bring benefits closer to the coffee growing areas and washing stations.

‘Fairtrade guarantees farmers a price irrespective of the quality of their produce, however we work with local farmers direct, paying better than fair trade prices and championing their beans to other speciality roasters’

BETTER THAN FAIR TRADE

Fairtrade guarantees farmers a price irrespective of the quality of their produce, but it can lead to overproduction which further lowers the price, making things difficult for small farmers who are not part of the system and cannot afford to be.

Red Roaster think that a fair price should be negotiated for a coffee which reflects its quality and the needs of the producer. That’s why they buy direct from farmers wherever possible, paying better than fair trade prices.

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