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Organic coffee fetches high price in US - envoy
2008-05-02 09:27:46
By Adam Ihucha, Meru
US Ambassador Mark Green has urged Tanzanian coffee growers to access the American market.
``I am not an agro businessman, but in my opinion, organic coffee is more favourable in the US market than ever before,`` Green told the Mount Meru Specialty Coffee Growers Association leaders on Wednesday.
The association has for the last six crop seasons been exporting specialty coffee to the US market.
Green said organic coffee had a special price in the American market because the majority of US folks were eager to purchase the commodity.
``I suggest that you raise production of organic coffee because it fetches special price in the US market and the price is not fluctuating,`` he said.
The US envoy, accompanied by the Arumeru District Commissioner Elias Wawa Lali, the Meru executive Director, Raphael Mbunda and ELCT Meru Diocese Secretary General Thobias Ndossi toured a farm and coffee factory belonging to the Mt. Meru Coffee Project, which is a partnership scheme between the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania (ELCT), Diocese of Meru and its sister church in America (ELCA), the Greater Milwaukee Synod (GMS).
According to the project Manager, Emil Nanyaro, the original idea of forming the project dates back to April 1998 when the ELCT Bishop of Meru Diocese, Paulo Akyoo, and his delegation visited the GMS.
``Out of mutual discussions, the issue of creating a market for quality coffee from the slopes of the splendid Mount Meru was hatched, the idea behind being to uplift the well being of coffee farmers in our diocese`` Nanyaro said.
Upon his return, he said, Bishop Akyoo tabled the idea before the Executive Council of the Diocese whereby it was resolved that a coffee committee should be formed.
Based on this understanding, a four-man delegation sent to the GMS reached agreement in May 2000 that the partnership Coffee Project going by the name ``Mt. Meru Coffee Project`` should officially be recognized.
Nanyaro said before the project took off, coffee production was on decline as the price was very low. It fetched between 300/- and 400/- per kilogramme of parchment coffee.
Other factors that had contributed to the coffee production decline were growth of population which had reduced land under cultivation and the uprooting of coffee trees for production of fodder.
The project has successfully managed to push up the coffee prices. The price now stands at 1800/- per kg of parchment coffee.
``Other coffee buyers have also been compelled to increase their prices so as to match the price offered by the project,`` he said, adding that even the farmers who were not members of the scheme had also benefited.
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