Empowering change: Agroecological Approach to Coffee Pulp Composting, A Case Study of Rusizi District Rwanda

Abstract

Coffee is an important cash crop contributing to the livelihood of millions of smallholder farmers, particularly in developing countries. Nonetheless, its processing creates a substantial amount of waste material, posing a significant environmental threat. Coffee pulp waste holds the potential for conversion into cost-effective and easily manageable high-quality compost. This study aims to understand factors affecting coffee pulp compost adoption and develop compost interventions leading to empowering smallholder coffee farmers. The research uses a participatory, and action research approach guided by a soft system methodology including 10 field visits, 30 semi-structured interviews, and a workshop with 15 farmers, coffee washing station leaders and local government officials in the Rusizi District of Rwanda. The study reveals that major factors of coffee pulp compost adoption are know-how of composting, financial capacity, remoteness, willingness to improve coffee farming, access to manure, perceived benefit and risk and choice of soil management practices. Designing composting interventions should focus on the use of locally available structural materials and training on know-how of composting is critical for widespread adoption. Shared visioning and co-creating action plans empower and provide agency to the local stakeholders to enact the transition themselves. The findings suggest that building farmer and cooperative capacity to reduce external dependency and improving market access are key to driving agroecological transition in the resource-poor setting. This study highlights that integrating behavioural factors and agroecological understanding ensures that circular economy models like coffee pulp composting are culturally relevant, collectively owned, and capable of empowering smallholder coffee farmers.