Matriarch Coffee was established in 2020 with the main goal to become the go-to brand for ethical and equitable coffee that inspires the loyalty of customers and growers alike. We recognize that investing in the health and wellbeing of farming communities particularly women and children, adds not only to their quality of life but allows farmers to prosper while allowing them to implement innovative best practices that yield sustainable production of high-quality beans. Matriarch Coffee’s strategy to make social impact is shaped around supporting three key initiatives namely Matriarch Scholarship Fund, Tunga Livestock Program and Community Welfare.
Matriarch Scholarship Fund
Matriarch Scholarship Fund aims at supporting girls' education in the communities where Matriarch Coffee sources its coffee beans. Girls' education is key for women's autonomy and self-reliance. In the majority of coffee farming communities, girls are likely to drop out of school which exposes them to early marriages, unemployment, or underemployment. Young women are likely to experience limited life choices and their dependence on their partners keeps the cycle of poverty that goes on from a generation to another.
Tunga Livestock Program
"Tunga" is a word from the local Rwandan language, Kinyarwanda, that is a wishful word for "wealth". With this program, Matriarch Coffee will contribute to Gasharu Coffee Livestock program, providing livestock of choice to households in the Gasharu farming community. This program was inspired by the fact that despite being one of the areas producing world class coffee, the community of Nyamasheke District where gasharu coffee grows, still ranks high among places with high stunting which prevent children to grow or develop properly.
Community Welfare
The community welfare initiative is among our flagship programs which promotes health and prosperity of the community that produces coffee beans that we love so much. This program supports our partner's initiatives that aim at reducing health risks of coffee farmers and their families. We anticipate to contribute to the "Daycare facility" that Gasharu Coffee plans to establish at each coffee washing station to provide space for children as their mothers work. This space is also expected to be a facility that can be used for community health outreach for local healthcare providers who would want to bring their services to people working at the coffee station.
