Forum

I'm currently working on writing origin profiles by country and region for a company I work for and have encountered something I found surprising. I know its easy to view the DRC as a lost (or rather, misplaced) cause due to the many years of conflict, including the just recently re-sparked fighting, which in my humble opinion and observation has resulted in neighboring countries which have found general stability, and improved practices and branding (Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi) passing up the producers of the DRC. I generally feel that because the farmers of the DRC, and Kivu in particular, have lost their farms, perhaps temporarily, and are going to have to sprint to catch up with world trends and tech, I think we should still be keeping them in the coffee dialogue. Perhaps I missed it somewhere, but when I searched to see what the current discussions might be about the DRC's almost Mandheling-like coffees, there was nothing there. I would like to (re)open discussion about the country, happenings there, and ways to help get them back on track when stability returns. Does anyone have any experience at origin in the DRC that they would like to share? I'm very interested in the coffees of the Great Lakes and would love to hear of developments, past trips, anything really. Thanks!