Ikawa House is an exporter founded by Laetitia Mukandahiro and Uzziel Habimana. We’ve worked with Laetitia and Uzziel in various capacities for nearly two decades, making it a no-brainer for us to support them when they started an exporting business in late 2019. Ikawa House primarily focuses on quality control and market access for both private washing stations and cooperatives across Rwanda. Connecting buyers and suppliers is a passion for the two, along with training up-and-coming Rwandan coffee professionals on cupping, roasting, and brewing techniques during quiet months after the harvest. They began planting the Rurnozi coffee farm in 2021.
For Uzziel, Ruronzi is a uniquely personal project. The farm is planted on land his family has owned for generations. During the Rwanda Tutsi genocide, in 1994, there was a staggering loss of life in the area. Uzziel, along with one sister, were the only ones from their family who managed to survive. When he returned some three decades later to begin this project, he found just a few remaining Mbirizi coffee and avocado trees, now more than fifty years old. From the seeds collected from these trees, he began planting new plots alongside many other varieties like Bourbon, RAB C15, Batian, and even a few Gesha trees.
The farm is the logical extension of Ikawa House’s passion for quality and education. It’s a place to experiment with new varieties, processing methods, and farm management techniques to help reshape the quality potential of Rwandan coffee. The farm is still quite young, with its first small harvest occurring in 2024. Nearly all the coffee is prepared as natural sundried, although plans are in place to build a washing station on the property in the future. What is emerging from this work is a biodiverse farm with staple crops such as corn, beans, cassava, and avocado intercropped with the coffee trees. Cows are kept on the land to provide manure for compost, as well as dairy for the neighbors and distant relatives still in the area who help Uzziel on the farm.
The transformation unfolding on this land is stunning and, honestly, difficult to fully comprehend without having lived through the history that shaped this land. The cup quality of this amazing lot from Ruronzi is self-evident. Understanding the history and dedication behind Ikawa House’s work deepens our appreciation for this coffee and leaves us deeply inspired to share it with you.
