Dukorere Kawa Bukure, Nova Washing Station, Natural Lot 21

Nova Coffee is led by nurse-pharmacist team (and married couple) of Agnes Mukamushinja and Felix Hitayezu, who came to coffee after running Pharmacie Nova in Kigali. Their move into the sector began in 2015, grounded in a formal mission to improve community livelihoods through better farming practices and a women-centered model for processing. They purchased an aging washing station in Bukure and rebuilt it as a professionalized hub for local growers.

Agnes’s personal connection to coffee is rooted in her home village, where most trees were destroyed during the genocide—trees her father had supported for decades as an agronomist. Once in Bukure, she tapped every available resource: government trainings, NAEB programs, Rwanda’s IWCA chapter, and value-add opportunities. One outcome was Le Café de Mamans, a roasted brand produced with 263 women farmers of the Berwa Cooperative and sold domestically.

Today, Nova receives cherry from three cooperatives—Jyambere Muhinzi Wakawa, Dukorere Kawa, and Berwa—alongside smallholders adjacent to the station. Their team includes a full-time agronomist, experienced operations leads, and QC manager Celeste, who oversees processing and drying. Continued willingness to experiment, as shown with a variety of naturals and anaerobic coffees, reflect Nova’s push toward higher-quality processing and expanded market access for farmers in the Bukure sector.