Congo Coffee: What Is Kivu Coffee and Why It Is Making a Comeback
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Look at a map of Lake Kivu and you will see Rwanda on one shore and the Democratic Republic of Congo on the other. The same volcanic soils, altitude and Bourbon-type coffee trees grow on both sides, yet for years Congo’s coffee barely reached the world. So what is Kivu coffee? It is arabica grown in the highlands of North and South Kivu provinces and on islands in the lake, usually washed, often from cooperatives, and capable of bright, juicy, deeply sweet cups that rival the best of East Africa.
Its story is one of collapse and comeback: a large coffee industry wrecked by war, rebuilt farm by farm since the 2000s, and now threatened again by renewed fighting.
Key takeaways
- DR Congo produced more than 100,000 metric tons of coffee a year in the late 1980s, according to UN data reported by Reuters.
- Civil conflict from 1993 and the Congo wars of 1996–2002 devastated production and exports.
- Cooperatives such as SOPACDI in South Kivu and CPNCK on Idjwi island led a specialty revival from the 2000s and 2010s.
- Kivu coffees are typically washed Bourbon-type arabica with bright, juicy acidity, sweetness and a smooth body.
- Since early 2025, fighting in North and South Kivu has disrupted harvests and exports again.
In this article
- What is Kivu coffee?
- From boom to bust to revival: a timeline
- Idjwi: the island that rowed its coffee to market
- What Kivu coffee tastes like
- Kivu coffee today
- FAQ
What is Kivu coffee?
Kivu is the name of a lake and of the provinces around it in eastern DR Congo, on the border with Rwanda. Coffee from this area is almost entirely arabica, grown by smallholders on the steep, fertile slopes above the lake and on islands such as Idjwi. Most of it is washed: cherries are pulped, fermented, washed and dried on raised beds, the same approach used across the lake in Rwanda.
Congo grows robusta too, mainly in other parts of the country, but Kivu is the arabica heart and the source of almost all of Congo’s specialty coffee. Coffee Review notes that Lake Kivu sits right next to key growing regions in both Rwanda and Congo and may help moderate temperatures, and that the region’s coffees are mainly local Bourbon cultivars, which it links to complex aromatics and deep sweetness.
From boom to bust to revival: a timeline
| Period | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1940s | Coffee is introduced on Idjwi island under Belgian colonial rule |
| Mobutu era | The coffee industry is nationalized |
| Late 1980s | Production tops 100,000 metric tons a year (UN data via Reuters); Daily Coffee News estimates about 238 million pounds in 1989 |
| 1993 onward | Civil conflict begins to cut output |
| 1996–2002 | The Congo wars destroy much of the export industry |
| 2000s–2010s | Cooperatives form, including SOPACDI in South Kivu, which grows to about 6,000 members |
| 2013 | CPNCK and another Kivu cooperative become the first to export directly to international buyers since the wars |
| 2017/18 | Output is estimated at about 44.8 million pounds, a fraction of the 1980s level |
| 2018 | A SOPACDI coffee scores 94 points in a Coffee Review report on African Great Lakes coffees |
| 2023 | Production recovers to just over 62,000 tons |
| 2025 | M23 rebels seize major cities in North and South Kivu; exports are disrupted |
Between the war years and the revival, a lot of Kivu coffee simply left the country informally, sold across the border or across the lake at low prices because farmers had no reliable way to export it themselves.
Idjwi: the island that rowed its coffee to market
Idjwi, a large island in Lake Kivu, shows both the hardship and the promise. Its isolation spared it the worst of the fighting, but it also cut it off from buyers. Daily Coffee News reported that growers paddled wooden canoes across the lake to sell their coffee in Rwanda, a trip that could take two days, and that locals say around 2,000 growers drowned over the years when storms capsized boats.
Today the island’s cooperative, CPNCK, buys washed coffee from about 2,100 growers. With a loan from the social enterprise Ensemble Pour La Différence, it shipped its first full container in 2013, and with help from the Belgian NGO Rikolto it set up 19 micro washing stations. Its coffees regularly cup above 85 points. Running washing stations on generators and shipping by boat keeps costs high, but farmers now receive a base price plus a share of the profits.
What Kivu coffee tastes like
Kivu shares the Great Lakes style you may know from Rwandan and Burundian coffee: bright, balanced cups with crisp, often juicy acidity and a smooth, full mouthfeel. Typical notes include red fruit, citrus, black tea, brown sugar and sometimes florals.
| Trait | Kivu (Congo) | Rwanda | Uganda (Mount Elgon) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main type | Washed Bourbon-type arabica | Washed Bourbon-type arabica | Washed arabica, plus much robusta elsewhere |
| Acidity | Bright, juicy | Bright, juicy | Usually milder |
| Body | Smooth, fairly full | Medium, silky | Light to medium |
| Flavor direction | Red fruit, citrus, sweetness | Red fruit, florals, tea | Chocolate, florals, dark fruit |
What about the potato defect?
The Great Lakes region is known for the potato taste defect, a rare raw-potato aroma in individual beans linked to insect damage. Coffee Review’s 2018 report found it most associated with Burundi and Rwanda, and only one sample among more than 100 from the region showed it, suggesting that farm and mill efforts to control it are working.
Kivu coffee today
By 2023, Congo’s coffee production had recovered to just over 62,000 tons, according to UN data cited by Reuters. Then, at the start of 2025, fighting between the government and Rwanda-backed M23 rebels escalated, and the rebels seized major cities in North and South Kivu. Reuters reported empty drying beds at the state coffee factory in Bukavu, blocked export routes and banking disruptions, with one farmer’s yearly coffee income falling from $300 to $50.
For buyers, that means Kivu coffee may be scarce or irregular for a while. For farmers, the gains of the past fifteen years are at risk. When you do find a Kivu lot from a recognized cooperative, buying it supports one of coffee’s most hard-won recoveries.
Taste the Great Lakes style
We do not currently stock a Congo single origin, but you can explore neighboring East African profiles. Uganda Sipi grows on the slopes of Mount Elgon at up to 2,500 m from Bourbon-family varieties, including SL14 and SL28, and is fully washed and sun-dried, with floral, chocolate and dark fruit notes. Tanzania Mbeya, a Bourbon and Kent medium-light roast, brings pear, jasmine and strawberry. For a blend, African Kahawa Blend is a complex medium-dark roast of African coffees with toffee, red fruit and black currant notes. Browse the rest of our single origins.
FAQ
Is Congo coffee good?
The best Kivu coffees are excellent. A SOPACDI coffee from South Kivu scored 94 points in Coffee Review’s 2018 report on Great Lakes coffees, among the top scores in that report.
Is Kivu coffee arabica or robusta?
Kivu coffee is almost all arabica, mainly Bourbon-type varieties. Congo also grows robusta, but mostly in other regions.
Why did Congo’s coffee production collapse?
Civil conflict starting in 1993 and the wars of 1996–2002 destroyed infrastructure and export channels. Weak support, low prices and poor roads made recovery slow.
Where is Lake Kivu?
On the border between eastern DR Congo and western Rwanda, in Africa’s Great Lakes region.
Sources
- Reuters via TimesLIVE. DRC coffee farmers fear war will undo recent gains, 2025.
- Daily Coffee News. On an island in the DRC’s Lake Kivu, coffee begins to bear economic fruit, 2019.
- Coffee Review. African Great Lakes coffees, 2018.
Facts checked in October 2026.
Keep reading: Rwandan coffee · Ugandan coffee · Burundi coffee · Single origins