A Conversation with Jeanine Niyonzima-Aroian
The Founder of JNP Coffee on Her Inclusive Business Model
Jeanine Niyonzima-Aroian’s export company JNP Coffee releases some of our favorite single origins from Burundi, all while implementing commonsense strategies to empower farmers.
Born in Bujumbura, Burundi, Jeanine wasn’t always focused on coffee. She first came to the United States to pursue an undergraduate degree, and then rose through the ranks of international corporations, eventually getting an MBA and starting her own consulting business and nonprofit. Then, by chance, she met an official at the U.S. Agency for International Development who urged her to consider coffee as an avenue for impactful investment in Burundi. She seized the chance to become involved, first with women farmers belonging to the International Women’s Coffee Alliance.
When it comes to using business for good, Jeanine is a model for us all. That—and because her coffees are so consistently delicious—is why we’re thrilled to talk with her to learn how she came to her work and what inspires her today.
Your work in coffee has always focused on empowering women farmers. Why is that important to you?
When I first started working with farmers, it immediately clicked for me that the way out of poverty in Burundi is to empower women: women give back to their families, they make sure kids are fed and that the things at home are taken care of. When women are empowered, the entire community becomes empowered.
Typically, in these farming communities, men are the ones who deliver coffee cherries to the wet mills, which means they are the ones who receive tickets for payment. If and when women deliver the coffee, they’re able to take more ownership in the process. Suddenly they’re in a position where they can receive payment.
Tell us about your partnership with International Women’s Coffee Alliance (IWCA) and how it has informed your approach to coffee in general.
When I began working with IWCA in 2015, they were a small group of about 100 women farmers. Now there are more than 2,000 farmer members. A premium program was established with the formation of the IWCA Burundi. When we got involved, we developed the program exponentially, which rewards quality and gives farmers a second payment post-harvest. In 2016, JNP Coffee paid $80,000 in premiums to farmer-members belonging to IWCA. By 2020, we had paid over $250,000 in premiums, funds that go directly into the pockets of the farmers, bypassing the wet mills.
Coffee season is short in Burundi, only about three months, so to have a built-in second payment allows farmers to invest in their farm or just take care of necessities. It also rewards the work it takes to produce quality coffee because the premium’s amount is based on the coffee’s final selling price.
The premiums have become a lifeline for farmers. But instead of investing the money into the farm, we noticed early on that farmers were using the money to cover immediate needs rather than reinvesting the funds back into their farms. In partnership with a nonprofit, we began a financial literacy program to teach the skills of how to save and invest. We saw it as a way to change the paradigm. Today, these trainings occur outside of IWCA, where men and youth participate in them, too.
How does the financial literacy program work?
It’s a program that has become extremely powerful, and that’s because of the way it's structured. Each class consists of a group of 10 to 20 participants who meet every week for an entire year. The first thing they do is decide upon a fixed sum of money that each member of the group is comfortable contributing each week to the group’s collective savings. Once there are enough funds, the group gives microloans to its members, deciding on the terms of each loan. The weekly contributions make it possible for the group to provide microloans for all of its members. By the end of the year, everyone repays their loans with interest, and then their collective savings, which can be substantial at that point, are dispersed evenly among members.
To me, of all the programs we manage, this one has the greatest impact. Because coffee in Burundi is seasonal, farmers have to find other ways of making money, and this class gives them both the savings and skills to do things on their own.
An example that stands out is a group of IWCA farmers who started their own wet mill in 2019. This was an initiative of black women farmers who want to be owners of their own destiny. They wanted to do more than grow, pick, and deliver their cherries. I am an investor in that group because I want them to be successful.
What are other ways that JNP Coffee helps farmers to improve coffee quality?
Other than sharing some of the basic ways to improve quality like pruning, fertilizing, and careful picking and processing, we also encourage women farmers to get more involved in the entire coffee process. This means getting jobs at the wet mills. Fully washed coffees take about 30 days to dry on raised beds and naturals take about 45 to 60 days. When women work at the wet mills, they follow the process of their coffee and help to ensure traceability in lots.
We got right into coffee, but let’s take a step back. You grew up in Burundi. What was your relationship with coffee like then?
Burundi is a tea-drinking country. It wasn’t until I went to the US for college that I started drinking coffee. And it wasn’t for taste; it was to help me do my work. It was only when I went back to Burundi during summer breaks that my mom began to tell me stories of how when she was a young girl, she and her siblings would pick coffee and deliver the harvest to market, using the money they earned for tuition, medical bills, school uniforms—whatever was necessary at the time. Back then, there weren’t wet mills. The government built nationalized wet mills in the 1970s, so farmers were either milling at home or delivering cherry directly to the marketplace to be sold.
Why did you pivot to coffee midcareer?
Even though I already had a nonprofit doing work in Burundi, I realized that working in coffee would give me the chance not just to help people in Burundi, but to empower them. The country is one of the poorest in the world, but coffee is its largest export.
At the point when I directed my focus entirely to coffee, I felt so fortunate. I had already had an amazing career. I received an amazing education. This became my way of helping my country.
It’s fair to say that I am who I am because of my mom. I owe so much to her. My mom was entrepreneurial and a hard worker. She believed in education. So back a few years ago when the women from IWCA approached me, I knew immediately that I wanted to help.
We’re releasing two coffees from you this year. The first, Incuti, is a sparkling washed coffee. What is the story behind it?
It’s a really beautiful coffee that is also a celebration of friendship. I was approached by a group of farmers, led by a man, who wanted to work with me. I saw the opportunity to make a real impact with them. Over time, he and I have become friends, speaking over the phone almost every day. Incuti means “friends” in Kirundi, my native language, and we wanted to convey this feeling in the coffee’s name.
One aspect of their coffee that really excites me is that we’re going to pursue organic certification. Most of the farming in Burundi is organic by default. Farmers just don’t have the money to purchase chemicals. If you see the trees in Burundi, they are quite skinny—but they are resilient too. We teach ways to maximize plant health: how to prune trees, how to fertilize using just manure and hay. But what we are trying to do with the organic certification, which is quite rare and difficult to get in Burundi, is to open up new channels for producers’ coffees. There are some places, especially in Europe, that only buy certified organic coffee. For us to be able to provide this market differentiation could be a big deal. Even though it’s hard to achieve and maintain, JNP Coffee is taking this on.
The second release is a natural from Bavyeyi Washing Station. It is one of our favorites of all the coffees we’ve cupped this year. What is its story?
The coffee from Bavyeyi is very unique. Its sweetness and full body make it pleasant and smooth, a coffee that I could drink all the time. We called it Bavyeyi (or “parents” in Kirundi) in part because it grows in the same area where my mother was born and raised. Supporting farmers from here, a group of all-women farmers no less, has been very important to me and the relationship has been going very well.
That it's a natural coffee is exciting, too. Naturals aren’t too common in Burundi, but the process brings out a rich fruitiness in the coffee.
What’s in store for you and JNP?
I'm exploring establishing a youth program that would work with farmers’ children. During the summer, there’s very little for kids to do. For the children old enough to participate, I’d like to have programs that offer activities, or even training in coffee, like how to cup, how to dry coffee. We want to find ways to encourage the next generation to see that staying home to work in coffee can be a viable livelihood.
And I’m always asking myself what more I can do for my country. How else can I utilize coffee? Most people still don’t know that Burundi produces coffee, let alone this delicious coffee that has the power to alleviate poverty, empower women, and change lives. I feel very lucky to live where I do, and that I can extend my reach to collaborate with others and touch the people of Burundi.