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Coffee output set to increase by 2010
2007-07-08 09:57:04
By Imani Lwinga
Tanzania plans to increase coffee production to 120,000 tonnes per year in the next three years to take advantage of the good prices at the world market.
Currently Tanzania produces more than 50,000 tones of coffee, the Tanzania Coffee Board (TCB) has said.
The Moshi-based Tanzania Coffee Research Institute (TAcri) will distribute new improved varieties of disease resistant coffee seedlings it has been researching for some years ago. ``There has been a new campaign with strategies to boost the crop.
The collapsed cooperative unions have been revived and Tacri is there to assist,`` the TacrI official who asked for anonymity told The Guardian on Sunday on Tuesday.
Over 90 per cent of Tanzania`s coffee is grown on smallholder farms which form the backbone of the industry. The reminder comes from co-operatives and privately owned estates.
With a vast potential land suitable for coffee farming and more efforts to increase production as well as the quality of coffee beans, Tanzania could become a leading producer.
Currently, Uganda leads in coffee production in Africa, followed by Ivory Coast and Ethiopia.
Statistics given to this paper by TCB show that a 50kg bag of coffee sales in the year 2006/07 fetched an average price of $93.33, up from $49.13 per 50kg in 2000/01.
But as the coffee value go up, the sales volume has fallen. Statistics shows that in 2006/07 sales of coffee dropped to 54,778,435 kgs from 58,971,879 kgs sold in 2000/01.
The fall in sales was attributed by world market prices which discouraged coffee farmers to commit more resources in something that does not pay.
Drought also played part. For the past five years, Germany has been the leading buyer Tanzanian coffee, followed by Japan, Italy, USA and Belgium.
Last year, Germany bought some 34 per cent of all coffee exported from Tanzania while Japan accounted for 13 per cent.
Coffee exports in 2006/07 fetched some $82.2 million from 40,398,065 kgs. Each 50kg was sold at an average price of $101.83.
Demand for Tanzanian coffee has been on the increase, pressing the government and coffee stakeholders to revive efforts in increasing production as well as introducing new types of coffee.
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