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I.INTRODUCTION
1. From February 16th, 2009 to March 27th, 2009, OCIR Café conducted the National coffee census
2. The last census was conducted ten years ago and OCIR Café needed to update the coffee statistics in this Sector. In fact, there was a gap with regard to statistical data on the number of coffee trees and national production that needed correction. OCIR Café is committed to producing between 35 to 40 thousand tons of coffee in 5 years to come, and the census data are an important planning tool to help achieve this goal.
3. The overall objective of the coffee census is to provide OCIR CAFÉ with reliable data to enable good planning in the coffee Sector, with the ultimate purpose of increasing volume of production and improving the quality of Rwandan coffee.
4. The expected results shall reflect detailed data on the profile coffee farmers, including their sex and age; the number of coffee-trees and their age; the area covered by plantations; membership of the coffee farmers forming associations and cooperatives; the use of the pesticide(insecticide, fungicide) on coffee trees; the use of fertilizers and organic manure; the production and productivity.
5.The methodology used can be described as participative, informative, formative, a methodology of mutual support and sustained coordination from elaboration and validation of the questionnaire with partners to the gathering, transmission, entering, and analysis of data. This work mobilized a great number of people including 4 provincial supervisors, 30 District coordinators, 331 Secto coordinators, 2721 data collectors, 50 coffee TS and 25 staff members based at the OCIR CAFÉ Head Office, and a consultant.
II. THE CENSUS RESULTS
6. The census revealed that coffee is grown in all Provinces and Districts, including 331 Sectors and 1432 cells, with significant differences between and even within these administrative entities.
7. In number of coffee farmers, the Western Province comes in the first position with 32% of Rwanda’s coffee farmers, followed by the Southern Province with 31%. The Eastern Province takes the third position with 23%, the Northern Province 12%, and finally comes the City of Kigali with 2%.
8. The Districts and Sectors with the highest volume of coffee production are located mainly in the Western Province. The District of Nyamasheke is leading, followed by Rutsiro as second. Nzahaha Sector of the District of Rusizi is the leading Sector with 1 392 171 coffee-trees, followed by Macuba Sector (1 210 539 coffee trees) and Karambi (1,152,085 coffee trees), both of Nyamasheke District. These three Sectors are located in the area with highest density of coffee-plantation in the Western Province.
9. The aging of coffee plantations is very noticeable in the Districts of the Southern Province except the Districts of Nyaruguru and Muhanga , who have 22 and 21% of trees above 30 years old, respectively. The proportion of aging trees in other Districts varies between 32 and 49%.
10. The highest rate of productive coffee trees is found in the Western Province (65%), followed by the Southern Province (48%), Northern (40%), Eastern (40%) and the City of Kigali (36.8%). It has been also noted that 40.2% of productive coffee-trees are found in the Western Province, 28.7% in the Southern, 20.2% in the Eastern 9,4% in the Northern and 1.3% for the City of Kigali.
11. Below is a breakdown of the census results:
(i) Total number of coffee-trees    72 063 912Â
(ii) Percentage of the productive coffee-trees (3-30 years) Â Â Â 52%Â
(iii) Percentage of young coffee-trees (6 months-3 years) Â Â Â 24%Â
(iv) Percentage of old coffee-trees (>30 years) Â Â Â 24%Â
(v) Total number of plantations (coffee farmers) Â Â Â 394.207Â
(VI) Scattered plantations    70%Â
(vii) Grouped plantations    30%Â
(viii) Area occupied by the plantations (ha)Â Â Â 28.826Â
(ix) Average number of trees per plantation    183Â
(x) Percentage of coffee farmers who are men    69%Â
(xi) Percentage of coffee farmers who are women    30%Â
(xii) Percentage of schools, cooperatives, etc.
1%Â
(xiii) Coffee farmers who are not members of cooperatives    80%Â
(xiv) Coffee farmers who are members of cooperatives    20%Â
(xv) Fertilizer used (kg) Â Â Â 5 695 267Â
(xvi) Manure used in (kg) Â Â Â 151 542 320Â
(xvii) Number of coffee trees treated with the pesticides    37 695 628Â
(xviii) Number of mulched coffee-trees    37 984 181Â
(xix) Number of regenerated coffee-trees    23 287 261Â
12. The distribution of coffee plantations and average number of trees per plantation at the District level reflects the situation at national level, which indicates a higproportion of small plantations owned by many small coffee farmers. Small-scale plantations are predominant in the traditional of coffee growing areas in the Western and Southern Provinces as well as in the District of Gakenke.  A higher average number of trees per plantation was noted in Districts with enough land space and to allow coffee farming to be developed extensively, such as in the Eastern Province.
13. The cooperative spirit within coffee Sector is still poorly developed. At national level, only 20%Â of the 390,000 coffee farmers belong to a cooperative/association. Only 14 Districts out of 30 have a rate of association that is above the national average, varying from 20 to 54%. The District of Gakenke, the third at national level with a large number of coffee-trees is the sole exception with 54% of coffee farmers belonging to a cooperative/association. This census does not discuss reasons for this situation; but further research on this could be conducted on this topic..
14. The use of the manure is not yet a common practice. Coffee farmers are aware of the importance of fertilizers in increasing production. If it is assumed that organic and mineral fertilizers were applied on productive coffee-trees (37 303 916 coffee-trees), only 8% of them applied manure and 76.3% fertilizers. Other farming techniques (mulching, pruning, use of the pesticides) are applied at low levels as well.
16. Coffee farmers do not keep records on the production of cherries or parchment coffee from their plantations. Therefore, it was not possible to estimate production and productivity figures based on census data.
III. APPRECIATION OF THE CENSUSÂ Â 2009 AND RECOMMANDATIONS
17 The 2009 census was well-conducted despite financial constraints. Critical data to enable effective planning for the coffee Sector is now available.
18. Reliable data is now available on the number of coffee trees, coffee plantations and coffee farmers; geographical distribution of plantations; classification of coffee-trees between grouped and isolated plantations; the age distribution of coffee-trees; gender and age distribution of coffee farmers;Â level of cooperative association, and the mulching of coffee-trees. Useful data is also available on pesticide use, organic and mineral fertilizer use, coffee regeneration, pruning, and the status and number of cooperatives. Data on parchment and cherry coffee production are currently not useful.
19. A comparison of the 1998 and 2009 census shows that the number of coffee farmers or plantations has decreased by 1.48% in the last ten years, while the number of coffee-trees increased by 19%, thus achieving an increase of 1.9% per annum. Coffee orchards in 1998 were much older than in 2009.
20.The national coffee census was a training opportunity for the staff of OCIR CAFÉ who participated in the census exercise through preparation of the questionnaire, exchanging views with partners on data gathering, and assisting with data collection, entry and analysis.
21. In order to facilitate the dissemination of 2009 census results, improve reporting of field activities, and enable OCIR CAFÉ to conduct an improved National Coffee Census in the future, the following actions have been recommended: disseminate the census results on a large scale; test the questionnaire for the next census on a large scale; provide for the stability and availability of census personnel; improve the system of field reporting; collaborate on computerization of coffee Sector research and development to further refine critical data; reinforce cooperative creation, and encourage grouping coffee plantations.
CONCLUSION
21. You may find that the census results do not correspond to OCIR CAFÉ actual statistics which were probably based on data that do not apply to current situation. Therefore, they should be interpreted in a positive way and used as a baseline to improve the systems of planning, monitoring evaluation, reporting and collaboration among Departments.
Draft to be approved by NIS
National coffee census 2009 results(PDF)
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