Our Work in Burundi

CQI began work in Burundi in 2009, collaborating with USAID’s East African Competitiveness and Trade Expansion (COMPETE) program to expand the Q Coffee System, collaborate and support the African Fine Coffees Association (AFCA) and develop competitive strategies for Fine Robusta coffee. The shared goal among these organizations is to provide all East African coffee producing countries the opportunity to maximize their effectiveness in the marketplace and award premiums to the entire coffee value chain.

In 2011, as part of this program, CQI provided training and technical assistance in Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda. A regional emphasis brought together 13 highly qualified people from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda for East Africa’s first Q Grader Train-the-Trainer course. All of the students successfully completed the course and are now Assistant Q Instructors. Ted Lingle, CQI’s former executive director and the Q Instructor, remarked, “These individuals are the ‘cream of the crop’ cuppers, and possess both the cupping and teaching skills to become excellent cupping instructors.”