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CoffeeHQ

World coffee atlas

Rwanda

An East African producer of mainly arabica, grown by smallholders on small hillside plots. This entry covers where it grows, the conditions a published study describes, and the potato taste defect.

Why this origin matters

Rwanda is a small, high, landlocked country that grows mainly arabica on very small plots. Its coffee is among the East African coffees affected by the potato taste defect, a raw-potato smell that lowers the quality and the commercial value of a cup. The defect is also a useful lesson in how little is settled in coffee science: several causes have been proposed and, on a 2022 paper's account, none has been confirmed.

Where coffee grows

Coffee is concentrated in three areas: along the shores of Lake Kivu in the west, on the plateau in the centre of the country, and in the Mayaga region towards the east. Land-evaluation work has identified the borders of Lake Kivu as the part of the country with the highest potential yield. Coffee is grown by smallholders, usually as a single crop on plots of less than a hectare scattered across hillsides; in the highlands the slopes can be very steep.

A published study of Rwandan growing conditions characterises them as 1,400 to 1,900 metres above sea level, with annual rainfall of about 1,500 to 1,600 millimetres and temperatures of 18 to 22 °C. The same study points out a structural disadvantage: fertile soils are generally kept for food crops, so coffee tends to be planted on steep or less fertile land that is prone to erosion.

Species and varieties

Mainly arabica. Which varieties are grown is not established by the sources read for this page; Bourbon types are widely reported in the trade, and CoffeeHQ has not verified that against a primary source.

Varieties documented in Rwanda

Each line is what a named document says, not a share of the crop and not a claim that the variety is typical of Rwanda.

  • Bourbon. Two selections called Bourbon Mayaguez were brought to Rwanda in the early 1950s and are described by the catalogue as important there. Jackson, also related to the Bourbon group on genetic tests, is commonly found in the country. Source: Coffee Varieties Catalog: arabica and robusta entries, with the histories of each.
  • Typica. Mibirizi, which the catalogue calls likely the oldest variety in Rwanda, and the Harar released there in 2003 are both placed in the Typica group by genetic tests. The catalogue says Mibirizi's origin is poorly documented, and that the Rwandan authorities no longer recommend this Harar. Source: Coffee Varieties Catalog: arabica and robusta entries, with the histories of each.

Species and varieties to read about

How the coffee is processed

A 2022 paper on the potato taste defect says that Rwanda and Burundi use the wet method, in which the coffee is fermented in water before it is dried and husked. Washing stations are how Rwandan coffee is usually described as being processed; CoffeeHQ has read no account of them.

How each method works

What it tends to taste like

No description of how Rwandan coffee tastes is given here, because no source read for this page offers one. What the sources do describe is a fault: the potato taste defect, a raw-potato smell in the brewed coffee.

A tendency, not a guarantee

The 2022 paper says field examiners and bean buyers have no effective way to identify the affected beans. It reports that managing the antestia bug, by pruning and by pesticide, reduces both the bug and the defect.

History

Read the longer story

Pressures on the sector

  • The potato taste defect. It has been linked to the antestia bug, which damages the cherry, and to microbes that may enter through that damage; a bacterium and several fungi have each been proposed, and none has been confirmed as the cause.
  • Land. Coffee occupied a little over two per cent of cultivated land when it was surveyed, mostly on slopes and poorer soils, and yields above about 2.8 tonnes per hectare are described as rare.
  • Erosion on steep, intensively cropped hillsides.

How this page was put together

The production figures are published estimates, shown with their source and period. Everything else is CoffeeHQ's own synthesis of published reference material — not first-hand reporting, and not the result of CoffeeHQ visiting farms or tasting these coffees. Last reviewed 2026-10-09.

What we have deliberately not stated

  • A production series. USDA does not publish a separate estimate for Rwanda. The one figure CoffeeHQ holds is the official one Rwanda reported to the FAO for the calendar year 2024, about 17,840 tonnes of green coffee, which it has not checked against a Rwandan publication.
  • The history of coffee in Rwanda, including its introduction and the rebuilding of the sector for specialty markets from the late 1990s. That account is widely given and was not read in a primary source for this page.
  • Harvest months, which the sources read for this page do not give.

Sources