Due to its large territory in the central African region, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has several large areas of coffee production. In Congo we can find great production of both Arabica and Robusta coffee, although the regions are thousands of km away from each other and the road infrastructure is very remote of just non-existing. Due to its ideal geographic conditions Congo can produce very high-quality Arabica and Robusta. DRC is considered one of new jewels in the specialty coffee world.
History say that coffee come to the DRC around late 19th century from Liberia, and coffee was one of the main farming activities on the Belgian colonialist times. Several specialty and endemics coffees come from the DRC. As for example, only in the DRC we find the small Robusta coffee call Pettit Kwilu, a very small Robusta beans coffee with characteristic flavors. Robusta coffee is mainly natural processed, and the main Arabica variety is the Bourbon variety. Although you can find coffee all year round in the DRC, the main harvest seasons are for Robusta between March – June and for Arabica from October to December.

THE REGIONS WE OUTSOURCE FROM
Kongo central (Lukula) from its crumbling colonial-era buildings, the town of Lukula has several well-organized NGO’s that cooperates, organizes and improves the living standards of coffee producers along the Kongo Central region. The region produces Robusta coffee and its near to one of the mayor export ports in the DRC, the port of Matadi.
Gemena (sub-Ubangi) is a region where predominant Robusta coffee variety is growing. Sub-Ubangi region was recently recognized as region after been part of the Equatorial province in the north-east of the DRC. During the civil war, coffee production in Gemena declined sharply. Today, the coffee production around sub-Ubangi is flourishing again (after private initiatives and governmental programs) and it’s expected to be one of the main Robusta coffee regions in the DRC.

Kivu Region: Kivu is a large region in the eastern part of DRC. It borders with Uganda, Rwanda and surrounds the lake Kivu. The region is divided into three provinces, Nord-Kivu (North Kivu), Sud-Kivu (South Kivu), and Maniema. The whole Kivu region has great potential for stable and quality coffee, unfortunately, there are still some armed groups controlling some areas which make coffee activity harder than it already is in DRC.

However, the infrastructure for the coffee industry in Congo remains a challenge. Nevertheless there is high hope among the coffee farmers, that coffee could be part of their regions development. Both the government and NGOs have been investing heavily in the coffee sector and there is an international growing interest in the country’s potential for high-quality coffee. Congo’s soil, climate and altitude, gives the opportunity of producing truly exceptional coffees that can easely enter to compete with more stablished coffee producer countries around the globe.