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There is an assortment of optimal agricultural condi-
tions for coffee to grow, but Rwanda—landing squarely in
the global coffee belt—stands out in multiple ways. Known
as the land of a thousand hills, the country boasts good soil,
a favorable climate, and famous altitudes ranging from 950
to 4500 meters above sea level. However, attributing Rwan-
dan coffee’s exceptional qualities solely to its environment,
despite its role in nurturing those renowned flavor notes,
lacks a compelling final argument.
Any look at the numbers will make this clear. Why not
grow papayas, cassava, cabbages, avocados, or any one of
50 products made in the country with higher yields, some-
times 50 times the amount of coffee (tea’s yield in 2022
exceeded coffee by ten times)? There is an important dis-
tinction to be made in Rwanda between cash and food crops.
Coffee, along with tea and of lesser importance tobacco, is
a cash crop. “Rwandan people understand how to make
money from coffee,” says Daniel Hategekimana, who also
speaks in the film. He experienced firsthand the benefits
of coffee’s unique ability to provide. Because of his father’s
4000 coffee trees, Daniel and his sisters and brothers could
all afford school fees. In his senior year of high school, which
coincided with his first year of agriculture studies (because
that is when Rwandans need to choose what they are going
to study), he planted 50 trees of coffee himself. “Yeah, I
have to have my own coffee trees because I could understand
what comes from a coffee tree.”

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