Situated in Southeast Africa, Burundi is a landlocked country bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the south and east and the Democratic Republic of Congo to the west.
It is thought coffee was first introduced to Burundi by the Belgians during their rule. Plantations were established and production and sales increased, cementing coffee as an important cash crop to the country. Following independence in 1962, the coffee industry was privatized, with the State only contributing to research, quality improvement and price stability – though quality and quantity gradually decreased due to political instability and the negative colonial image coffee production held. In 1976, the coffee industry retreated back into State control in an effort to improve the quality and quantity of coffee produced. This strategy was unsuccessful and the Burundi coffee industry has been run privately since 2009. Coffee is now Burundi’s main export and has played a large part in rebuilding the country following years of political unrest.