A coffee farmer rides a bicycle provided by Project Rwanda. (Photo courtesy of Project Rwanda)

As part of a presentation on business strategies and social responsibility, Lourdes Master of Organizational Leadership student Dean Mueller challenged fellow students in his cohort to raise money for the farmers of Rwanda. The cohort met his challenge and has been raising funds throughout the fall semester. To date, they have raised enough money to purchase two coffee bikes through Project Rwanda.

Founded in 2005 by cycling buff Tom Ritchey, Project Rwanda has provided more than 2,000 coffee bikes to the farmers of Rwanda. In 2009, the organization’s goal was to raise enough funds to provide 2009 farmers with coffee bikes.

The east-African country of Rwanda has nearly 500,000 small-holder farmers whose primary source of income is the coffee plant. Depending on the market, Rwanda generates between $15 million and $35 million in annual foreign exchange for the coffee produced by the country’s farmers.

One of the major obstacles for Rwandan coffee farmers is transport of their crop. Because of economic and environmental issues, farmers cannot utilize animal or motorized transport. Instead, farmers must either walk or use bicycles to carry their crops once they are harvested. The use of coffee bikes decreases transport time by 50 percent. Additionally, the use of bicycles for transportation is more compassionate than the use of animals and more environmentally friendly than the use of motorized vehicles.

To learn more about Project Rwanda, visit http://projectrwanda.org/cargo-bike.