Gakenke

Gakenke was built in 1991 in the Gatara Commune in the Kayanza province. It lies at an altitude of 1672 meters above sea level. Gakenke station has 2685 registered farmer members, spread over the neighbouring 22 hills. Despite the ubiquity of coffee growing in Burundi, each smallholder produces a relatively small harvest. The average smallholder has approximately 250 trees, generally, in their backyards, each tree yields an average of 1.5 kilos of cherry so the average producer sells about 200-300 kilos of cherry annually. In Burundi, wet mills can typically reach farmers within 3 kilometres. If the washing station is located too far away, farmers will sell to middlemen, often at a disadvantage. To prevent this, Gakenke and other Greenco-owned stations have 12 collection centres. These centres allow them to reach farmers up to nine kilometres from the wet mill without compromising the quality.