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Coffee organizations are banding together to help coffee farmers who have been internally displaced by a recent uptick in civil conflict in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Escalating years of off-and-on conflict, the rebel group M23 has recently increased its advances in the Eastern DRC along the northern shores of Lake Kivu near the Rwandan border.
Coffee industry sources told Daily Coffee News that the escalated situation has led to the internal displacement of approximately 1,000 of the approximately 4,100 members of the DRC-based Muungano Cooperative. A coffee industry-led fundraising campaign is underway for much-needed immediate supplies.
With a name meaning “togetherness” in Swahili, the Muungano Cooperative was formed in 2009 by 350 members with a shared goal to pool resources, strength and provide unity in conflict-impacted regions of Eastern DRC.
Primarily comprising smallholder coffee farmers, the cooperative swelled to thousands of members in different geographic zones, providing fully washed and certified coffees.
On Aug. 5, just days after M23 rebels moved into areas around the cities of Minova and Goma in Eastern DRC, the general manager of Muungano Cooperative told trade partners that four of the cooperative’s 16 regional sectors had been impacted by the M23 insurgence, with some farmers abandoning their homes and farms with ripe cherry on the trees.
The official also said that getting goods in and out of Minova and Goma has become more challenging, especially as farmers prepare for the September rainy season. Coffee is still being processed and milled, but securing space at mills has become more difficult, the manager said.
A consortium of coffee organizations who have worked with the cooperative in recent years, including U.S.-based Atlas Coffee Importers and members of Cooperative Coffees, are hoping to raise $10,000 for immediate relief to Muungano Cooperative members who have been internally displaced.
The nonprofit On the Ground Global is leading the fundraising effort. Donation information and project updates can be found here.
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