Gakenke is a coffee station in Gatara Commune, Kayanza Province of Burundi. Farmers grow mostly older bourbon types, the original coffee cultivar introduced to the area in the 1930s by Catholic monks traveling from the island of Reunion. Gakenke sits at 1695 meters above sea level, and many of the farmers have coffee planted much higher than this. Gakenke is named after a plant that grows wild in the area with thin, hollow stems that are commonly used to drink the locally made banana beer. It's a smaller site compared to many others but still boasts 149 long drying beds for coffee where they process washed, honey, and dry process coffees. During the harvest season 1,900 local coffee farmers from 22 neighboring villages sell their coffee to Gakenke. A lot of the transactions happen at the few auxiliary collection sites nearby. These stations are usually run by a "collector" who acts on behalf of Gakenke, purchasing coffee cherries from the local farmers, and then doing a sort of pre-grading where they separate out unripe coffee before delivering to the mill. It's an added step but really helps in the production of top grades.
