🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo
Page updated: @August 24, 2026
Looking for more recent information? Check out the Producer Updates section for the latest news from Olame.
Contents
Olame is a coffee cooperative located in Bugarula of Idjwi Island, DRC. Established in 2019, Olame was formed in order to access international markets and earn better wages for its members, while also improving coffee processing techniques and overall quality.
The cooperative’s motto is ‘Live for our coffee, and by our coffee’.
"Our aim in establishing Olame Agricultural Cooperative, is not only to produce excellent coffee, but also to transform lives.
Our cooperative, headquartered in the village of Bukumbi on Idjwi Island on Lake Kivu, was founded in 2019. We have 1245 members, including 405 women. We have two coffee washing stations, with a production capacity of four containers
Our experience has taught us that true development is not limited to increasing the quantity and quality of harvests. It begins when women and young people gain the means to become independent, take initiative, and fully participate in building their community.
Through our Village Savings and Credit Associations (VSCA), the Olame Agricultural Cooperative helps communities build a culture of saving, solidarity, and investment. VSCAs have become spaces where members learn to manage their resources, fund their small businesses, and face economic challenges with more confidence. Every bit of savings is a seed that can grow into an activity, an income, and, above all, a new hope.
Our Vocational Training Centre tackles a major challenge: giving young people practical skills to build their future. We want youth to be seen not just as a group that needs help, but as a force capable of creating, of starting ventures, and of contributing to local development. Vocational training opens doors to employment, entrepreneurship, and independence.”
Ghislain Kamondo, Chair of the Board, Olame
Location
History
The Olame Agricultural Cooperative was established in 2019 by its founding 16 members in response to the numerous cases of drowning on Lake Kivu as a result of illegal coffee trafficking to Rwanda, as well as to add value to our coffee through the production of high-quality coffee and the search for profitable markets.
To date, the cooperative now has 1245 members, including 405 women and 840 men. Olame has succeeded in creating jobs in the local community, organising seven village savings and credit associations, establishing a training centre for cutting and sowing to empower women and young people, and setting up a cassava, soybean, and coffee mill. The cooperative has already distributed more than 75,000 coffee seedlings, more than 1,250 banana suckers, and more than 25,000 agroforestry trees free of charge.
Facilities & Operations
Olame has two sites in Bukumbi and Kihumba, each with a wet mill and 40 drying beds. Employed at these washing stations is 9 permanent and 15 part time workers.
A fairly new cooperative, Olame has produced a total of 5 containers of green coffee over the last 5 years. 2 containers of this coffee were exported internationally, while the rest was sold within the DRC.
Goals & Community Impact
In the long term, the Olame Agricultural Cooperative plans to increase its production by 50%, a goal which is already in progress thanks to the coffee plants distributed to its members. The team are also keen to increase the capacity of their facilities as well as initiating a support program for women and younger farmers.
Olame provides members with high quality seedlings, training in good agricultural practices, and access to credit programs. They also monitor and maintain local water pipes and roads, a tasks which benefits not only the cooperative but the whole community.
Something Olame would like to offer its members in the future is new tools and shade tree seedlings. One day they would even like to set up a mutual health insurance scheme.