Kigali — Rusenyi coffee grown on the shores of Lake Kivu in the Western Province has been voted the best among other types for its high quality.The specialty Arabic coffee was selected for its good aroma and citric taste against other three other coffee varieties from Maraba (in the country's Southern Province), and others grown in other parts of Rwanda as well as Colombia, Latin America.

This was announced yesterday at a coffee palate function at the US Ambassador's Residence in Kacyiru, Kigali City.

Speaking at the ceremony, Commerce and Trade Minister, Protais Mitali, largely attributed the flavour of Rusenyi coffee to the joint efforts between the government and US Embassy in Rwanda since 2002 to increase the quality of coffee.

"I'm honoured to recognise the supportive effort by the US Embassy to the coffee sector in the country, which has yielded such amazing flavouring product," Mitali said. He said that out of 3,000 coffee tonnes that the country produced last year, 2,000 tonnes were specialty.

The US Ambassador Michael Arietti said that presently, speciality coffee is marketable worldwide.

"Specialty coffee buyers the world over are seeking Rwandan fine coffee, and some of the captains of this $2 billion industry are once again in the country to check out her offerings" he said.

The envoy said that his country has helped technical and financial support to 50,000 Rwandan families benefiting from the booming sector.

Other US assistance to Rwandan coffee farmers includes the bicycle project, in which farmers access bicycles on the credit. The Director of Spread Project at the US Embassy said: "We hope these bicycles will increase the capacity of farmers resulting in increased quantity and quality of speciality coffee."