The Busasa washing station has a total of 151 African drying beds and works with a total of 1600 farmers that supply cherries from the surrounding hills. The annual production of the station is 650 MT of cherries. Busasa producers have received a premium 20% above the local market rate this season. Busasa pays its staff almost 60% above the rate for casual labour in Burundi. This is a standard for Matraco, the owners of Busasa, Businde and Nyagishiru CWS.
To assist with the dispersing of coffee pulp, Matraco distributes this compost as fertilizer to help the farmers nearby. Along with this, they assist with the yields of local farmers by donating seedlings to their farms.
Washed coffees are fermented for 12 hours, in a traditional styling, where they’re pulped at night, left in ceramic open-air tanks overnight, and cleaned and washed in the morning. They also go through a serpentine channel that sorts and separates by density. It is then left for approximately 20 days to dry on raised beds with consistent movement and rotations.
