Aid, trade and the post-war recovery of the Rwandan coffee sector

We investigate the post-war recovery of the Rwandan coffee sector. First, we look at the recovery of export earnings at the national level and show that the role played by the rise in international coffee prices largely outweighed the one played by domestic policies to boost coffee production and quality. Second, we analyze the subnational variation in the recovery of coffee tree investment and reveal the legacy of armed conflict. In 1999 – five years after the peak of the violence – highly violence-affected regions exhibit significantly lower tree planting and maintenance. Within a decade, the gap is however closed. We discuss the role that positive externalities generated by high-profile public investments in the coffee sector might have played in the catch-up process. We frame this discussion in the wider debate on the nature of the Rwandan State.