An update on the conflict in Eastern DRC, home to our friends at Rebuild Women's Hope Cooperative.
“The DRC is a beautiful country and home to a brave and resilient population.
We stand in solidarity with our friends at Rebuild Women's Hope cooperative, and with the innocent people of the DRC. Hearing of the atrocities of this conflict first-hand, we implore our own governments to help end the suffering and bloodshed of blameless communities and stop the escalation of warfare inside, and out, of DRC borders. We will continue to support the courageous efforts of Rebuild Women's Hope and are more determined than ever to meet our $60k target to build the extension for the Hospital of Hope.”
Grant Lang, Founder Mozzo Coffee,
Independent Coffee Farmer Supporter
How does the DRC conflict affect our coffee producers?
Image credit: Aubin Mukoni
Our friends and colleagues in the DRC are in peril.
They have lost friends, family, colleagues, neighbours. Witnessed barbaric atrocities and listen, powerless, to grenades showering from the sky and the screams of those fleeing for cover.
Hundreds of thousands of residents and displaced people have fled the eastern region of the DRC in panic and terror, as occupation by M23 since January ’25 causes severe humanitarian challenges for the Congolese people. Violence, rape and looting of vital relief supplies are just some of the day-to-day horrors they face.
Thousands have been killed since their offensive began earlier this year, including 17 human rights activists and peacekeepers. Terrifying and immensely challenging circumstances for our Rebuild Women’s Hope Coffee Cooperative founders Marceline, her husband Bertin and their family.
Marceline’s Commitment to Human Rights
As a brave and internationally recognised Human Rights Activist Marceline has become a rebel target.
As far as we know, the Rebuild Women’s Hope cooperative continues to operate, demonstrating incredible resilience. Standing resolute with their independent coffee farmers in the DRC, thanks to the support and resources of the cooperatives.
And like a symbol of defiance the RWH coffee farms still operate amidst the chaos - with coffee cherries in full fruit - albeit a little early this year.
We don’t yet know the impact of the conflict on the logistics of getting the coffee exported, but we remain in close contact with our friends on the ground.
A word from within the DRC …
Marceline told us,
“Somehow the situation on Idjwi Island is still good. We decided to continue working to show the world our resilience in the face of violence and bloodshed. We will not stop working as it is the only way we can survive. For our community and our livelihoods. We are the only cooperative working in the region, supporting our community and giving hope for people who have lost it.”
What’s happened in the Congo?
After a violent advance in January on the eastern DRC’s city of Goma, on the Congo/Rwanda border, the M23 rebels moved on to make significant territorial gains in Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province, where the situation remains highly volatile. With minimal resistance from the Congolese government.
Since then, M23 have captured the strategic mining town of Walikale in eastern DRC, marking their furthest westward advance. Placing them 250 miles of Kisangani, the country’s fourth-largest city. (Source: The Guardian).
In the face of this violence and instability, fear grips the region. With many people displaced to the outer regions without shelter, food or security.
While the fight for custody of mineral reserves in the DRC has been widely reported, the impact on the coffee industry is also profound. We know mineral wealth exports support large corporations and governments, but coffee wealth supports domestic people and their communities.
Coffee. A cornerstone of South Kivu’s economic activity.
The M23 capture of Bukavu and the surrounding region puts tremendous strain on the coffee industry.
Widespread looting and destruction of property puts essential infrastructure at risk, including coffee washing stations and storage facilities. All vital for maintaining the quality and marketability of the coffee produced.
We know that a guard watching coffee in a coffee mill in Bukavu has already been shot. The coffee smuggled out of the region.
And the chaos has led to many coffee cooperatives shutting, due to:
• Disruption in supply chains
• Farmers having limited access to their plantations
• Disrupted transport routes delaying the movement of coffee to processing facilities and markets
• Coffee farmers and their communities having to flee
• Coffee processing and export activities being severely affected
While efforts to address the crisis are ongoing, the situation remains complex, with continued reports of violence and human rights abuses.
There is urgent need for full and peaceful resolution.
But RWH continues to stand.
Sorting coffee at Boza Washing Station, Idjwi Island, DRC
Why was Rebuild Women’s Hope started?
Marceline set up Rebuild Women’s Hope (RWH) Coffee Cooperative - suppliers of our superb specialty Arabica beans – on rural green Idjwi Island in the Eastern DRC, in 2013, to give women financial independence and therefore autonomy, through coffee production.
Rural women are some of the most marginalised in DRC.
Traditionally, they work the farms, but it’s the men who get payment and its men who decide how that money is spent. Often with little benefit to the family. And, by extension the community.
RWH supports over 3000 members (70% female) with better farming practices as well as educating them about the benefits of gender equality and the incredible impact empowered women have on the wider community. Things like money management and new ways of generating an income, like sewing, crafts and saponification.
How did our relationship with RWH start?
Our relationship with the Rebuild Women’s Hope (RWH) Coffee Cooperative began in 2018. In an area of the world where the average agricultural labourer earns as little as $0.85 a day. We worked closely with Marceline and her team to work out what the cooperative most needed and used money collected from our C2C Fund™ – proceeds from every Mozzo cup, bag and pod of coffee - to build the first maternity and paediatric clinic on Idjwi Island.
Today, The Matumaini Clinic is a beacon of resilience. The team who run it are amazing. Their commitment to the community unwavering.
At the time of writing, since its opening in 2020, 6947 babies have been born there and 24,434 outpatients and 13,000 inpatients treated, for a wide range of vital health needs including malnutrition, malaria, cancer, cholera, injury and sexual health.
The Hospital of Hope, Idjwi Island, DRC
Pressure Mounts for Clinic to Expand
Despite the great work, the clinic is in desperate need of expansion. So, the team can save more lives.
And that was before the current unrest.
Pressure on the clinic’s resources has now ramped up even more. People are fleeing Goma and arriving on Idjwi Island as refugees.
Injured, pregnant, displaced, fearful and in need of treatment.
What can we do to help?
Mozzo had already pledged to raise a further $60,000 to build an intensive care unit and operating theatre for the hospital. But with the current situation, we need to reach our target faster.
Please help pour our collective heart into raising the funds and help Idjwi expand their clinic and help the Congolese people faster.
Buy from our collection of Rebuild Women’s Hope coffees and we donate 100% of the profits to the Hospital of Hope expansion project.
Our thoughts are with Marceline, Bertin, their family, friends and the wider team at Rebuild Women’s Hope.
We remain in contact.
