Nyasaland is Bourbon-Typica Group (Typica-related) variety and one of the oldest Arabica coffee varieties introduced to Africa. The variety originates from Typica introduced to Nyasaland (now Malawi) in 1878 from Jamaica. By 1891 there was a flourishing coffee industry in Malawi, but this eventually declined because of the marginal climate, which is hotter and drier than is usual for Typica. High incidence of pests including white stem borer coupled with inexperienced farmers allowing the plants to overbear in the first years caused a precipitous fall in yields that ultimately led to the abandonment of coffee in Malawi.
Nyassaland was taken from Malawi to Uganda in 1910, where farmers also struggled with the variety. Early failure led to the widespread planting of Robusta in Uganda. But in recent years, there has been a small resurgence of Arabica growing on the slopes of Mount Elgon, where Nyasaland (locally called Bugisu) is an important variety for smallholders.
Bugisu is a local variety of Nyassaland. The name derives simply from the region, where it is widely used to connote that a coffee is processed using the washed method as opposed to the Drugar/Natural processing method.
