the changemakers in the arena

It is not the critics who count; not those who point out how the Changemakers stumble, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the Entrepreneurs who are actually in the arena, whose faces are marred by dust, sweat and blood; who strive valiantly; who come up short again and again, because there is no change without trial and error; but who actually strive to do the deeds; who know the great devotions; who spend themselves in a worthy cause; who at best know in the end the triumph of meaningful impact, and who at worst, if they fail, at least fail while daring greatly, so that their place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
#championingchangemakers

The Changemaker's Collection

The Virunga Five

3x 100% Washed Arabica & 2x 70%/30% Robusta
Virunga, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is home to 8 mountain volcanoes. We've organically harnessed the nutrient-dense altitudes of 5 of these mountains to fill the Changemaker's cup with its awakening taste of tropical bliss, to power your day.
Special nod to Dian Fossey's 1983 autobiography "Gorillas In The Mist", an account of Dr Fossey's thirteen years in the Virunga rainforest with the greatest of the great apes.
High 5!

by Kawa Kivu

Kawa Nyiragongo

Medium Roast, 100% Arabica Washed.
Caramel, chocolate and floral elegant tea with a rich dark chocolaty lingering after taste.
Mount Nyiragongo, an active stratovolcano in the Virunga Mountains, bordering the land of a thousand hills, Rwanda, erupted in May 2021 and displaced over 500 thousand people. Kawa Yetu humbly embraces the responsibility of creating jobs in North Kivu to enable the region's economic resiliency. Harness its volcanic bliss in your morning's cup of impact!
Lava Me Now

by kawa kivu

Kawa Sabyinyo

Light Roast, 100% Arabica Washed.
Spicy dark chocolate with a strong nutty and chocolaty finish
With an average temperature of 25 degrees, famous for its misty dawns (nod to Dian Fossey's novel "Gorillas In The Mist"), the Virunga Mountains are never too warm and never too cold. Organically nourished by a nutrient-rich and healthy volcanic soil, our Virunga cup of impact will awaken your senses for an entrepreneurial day of making sustainable change.
Feel The Roast

by kawa kivu

Kawa Mikeno

Dark Roast, 70% Arabica, 30% Robusta.
Refined smooth dark chocolate with a rich hint of nutty notes in the aftertaste.
On the shores of Lake Kivu, south of the Virunga Forests, stretching across an area of 65,070 km², laid within a valley, lo and behold, North & South Kivu. The Kivu farming communities have perfected their craft by applying generational know-how of circular polyculture, creating a coffee that proudly flexes an awakening punch along with a flavoured tale of indigenous wisdom!
Let's Blend

by kawa kivu

Kawa Nyamulagira

Dark Roast, 100% Arabica Washed.
Floral, smooth, dark chocolate, black tea, with a fading nutty note.
Nyamuragira, also known as Nyamulagira, is an active shield volcano in the Virunga Mountains of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, about 25 kilometres north of Lake Kivu. The name is derived from the Bantu verb Kuragira nyamu, meaning to herd animals; nyamu means animal or cows
Purple Up

by kawa kivu

Kawa Karisimbi

Medium Roast, 70% Arabica, 30% Robusta.
Floral flavour, with cereal notes and a rich dark chocolate aftertaste.
Mount Karisimbi is an extinct stratovolcano in the Virunga Mountains on the border between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. At 4,507 metres, Karisimbi is the highest of the eight major mountains of the mountain range, which is a part of Albertine Rift, the western branch of the East African Rift.
Jambo Sana

Coffee is generally classified into three different types of roasts: light, medium and dark. During roasting, the beans expand, pop, and take on a variety of brown colors. The cracking and popping of the beans releases water vapor and gases, and defines the final taste profile.

The Roast Types

Light Roast

Acidity & Nuances

A light roast is recognizable by its smooth, tea-like texture. The beans are roasted for just a few minutes and have an acidic aroma, that emphasizes the unique characteristics of the beans. The light roast is also called cinnamon because of its color. The variety of tastes and notes within a light roast, tell a story of the farm and region it originates from, and what else may grow there.

Tip: light roast is great for press and pan coffee.

Medium Roast

Medium Roast is Soft and Balanced

Medium roast coffee is characterized by roundness, softness, and creaminess. The aroma is sweeter than in the light roast as the sugars in the coffee have already developed and some of the acidity has disappeared. This really is medium style – balanced in both aroma and acidity.

Tip: safe choice for filtered coffee: generally pleases most coffee drinkers.

Dark Roast

Strong and Full-bodied

Dark roast, as the name implies, is layered, velvety and fairly heavy. Fully roasted coffee beans become oily, shiny, and dark in appearance. Coffee can taste even smoky, spicy, and bitter. It does not have the acidic tone anymore.

Tip: use dark roast for a Café au lait, so the intensity of the coffee matches the sweetness of the milk.

Sustainability & Social Impact

  • Social

    By having our coffee entirely made in the Country-of-Origins, Kawa Yetu delivers on Social Sustainability & Equity by actively supporting the capacity of current and future generations to create healthy and livable communities, while dismantling social inequities by shifting away from raw-material trade to value-added trade. We empower the markets, to enable the producers, to elevate all of us.

    #EmpowerEnableElevate

  • Economic

    Africa does not lack education, it lacks industries. It lacks jobs. Economic growth requires the ability to transform raw-materials into semi-finished or finished goods, as this is wherein lies the economic value.

    In direct-trade with our Roasting Partners in the Countries of Origin, we enable the creation of value-added jobs and value-added trade, away from charity.

    #ValueAddedTrade

  • Environmental

    Deforestation is the result of industrial economic interests. Communities native to the world's forests (Our Planet's lungs) have always been its best guardians, in living in harmony with the Natural World. By enabling these communities to harvest, roast and pack our premium quality coffee, Kawa Yetu effectively empowers native communities to continue shepherding Our Planet.

    #OurPlanetsShepherds

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Changemakers' Ecosystem of Impact

We proudly exist alongside social-impact brands that are aligned to our vision of an equitable world: ending poverty and global economic inequities requires value-added transformation at the Origins.

Ecosystem of Impact

  • Impact Hub

    Entrepreneurs. Creatives. Techies.

    We are a community of creators creating a radically collaborative world!

  • Coffee Annan

    Bye Colonialism ! Roasted in the growing countries, generating a fairer distribution of money along the entire value chain.

  • ZimKaffee - life's too short for bad coffee

    ZimKaffee

    Life's too short for bad coffee, trust ZimKaffee for your daily dose of caffeine ! Highly rated coffee that stands out for its exceptional quality and taste.

  • Kanangayi

    A social, economic and environmental sustainability initiative ~ creating value-added jobs & industries in Africa.

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Oliver Pakasa, co-founder Kawa Yetu

The Changemaker's Digest

Kawa Yetu means "Our Coffee", in Swahili. So if it's ours, you might wonder who is "us". It's you and me and everyone that is "crazy enough to think they can change the world". Because we do! We travel off the beaten paths and blaze new trails, driven by necessity and fueled by passion, to meaningfully impact a better world. Slowly but inevitably surely, "we" move the needle of a better tomorrow forward, day after day after day...
Our purpose is to forge partnerships for the goals and enable decent work & economic growth, to achieve a world in which each and everyone can equitably leverage their innate talents to cultivate seeds of well-being, growth and prosperity for the better of People and Our Planet.
As aspiring and unrelenting changemakers, we appreciate the importance of starting our day with that first cup of awakening flavours, to brace and overcome the myriad of expected and unexpected challenges that occupy a changemaker's long days and short nights.
We have therefore tasked ourselves with the mission to serve each and every changemaker with a purposeful cup of delicious intensity, so that changemakers can pursue their calling to create and add value for others.
"What else?", they asked... the changemakers in the arena, #thatswhatelse !
What else !