Aimé Gahizi
Gitesi Coffee — Rwanda
Aimé is the managing director of Gitesi Coffee in Rwanda’s Karongi District. In 2011, he joined his father, Alexis Gahizi, to support operations at the Gitesi Washing Station. Today, Aimé leads the company.
His mission is clear: to improve coffee quality while strengthening the livelihoods of farmers in his community. Together with his team, he has introduced new processing methods that result in highly regarded specialty coffees.
Gitesi Coffee
Founded in 2010 by Alexis Gahizi, Gitesi Coffee operates a coffee washing station in the Karongi District of Rwanda’s Western Province. In 2012, the team at Gitesi Coffee won the first prize at the first Cup of Excellence competition in Rwanda.
A key focus of the company is to improve the skills and livelihoods of coffee farmers in the Karongi region. Through the Gitesi project, Gitesi Coffee helps farmers acquire cows to diversify their income streams beyond growing coffee.
Moreover, the company offers free coffee plants from their own nursery to farmers alongside providing them with materials and equipment for farming and harvesting. Additionally, Gitesi Coffee also provides free training sessions to farmers in agricultural techniques and financial management.
As a trained engineer, Aimé brings technical expertise and long-term thinking to his work. He designed a complex wastewater treatment system to reduce the environmental impact of coffee processing and conserve clean water.
He also introduced a waste management system that turns coffee pulp into organic fertilizer, which is reused on the farms.
In addition to processing cherries from local farmers, Aimé and his father cultivate their own coffee. This ensures a steady supply of high-quality cherries and allows them to test advanced farming and harvesting techniques, which they then share with the wider community.
We are proud to be working together with Aimé and the Gitesi Coffee Team since the start of warawul in 2023.