The Abahuzamugambi coffee collective, which was launched in 1999 in the town of Maraba, received the City of Gothenburg's International Environmental Prize for its achievements in one of the poorest areas of Rwanda.

At a ceremony on Thursday evening, the organisation, represented by its secretary general Francoise Habimana, was to be handed the prize by a Swedish environment ministry representative, one of the organizers, Lennart Wassenius, told AFP.

The award comes with a cheque for one million kronor (105,000 euros, 125,000 dollars).

The collective, which today has more than 2,000 members, uses no fertilizer or chemical insecticides and all sales profits, nearly three million dollars (2.5 million euros) last year, go directly to the coffee growers.

The collective, which counts more than 50 percent women, has had a huge social impact in the area, according to prize organizers.

The prize ceremony was to be attended by 180 guests, including Rwanda's Foreign Minister Charles Murigande, and feature African and Swedish music performances.

All rights reserved. � 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.