Tanzania

The Importance of Coffee

Today, coffee is cultivated in practically all the highland regions of the country. Wild coffee species are still being discovered in Tanzania – most recently Coffea kihansiensis in the Udzungwa Mountains. Both Arabica (harvested July-December and wet processed) and Robusta (harvested April-November and processed using the natural method) are cultivated and the main growing areas are Mara, Kilimanjaro, Ruvuma, Mbeya, Kigoma, Arusha, Manyara, Bukoba and Kagera (where both Robusta and Arabica are grown) – though some regions are shrinking due to climate change and urban sprawl.

Tanzania’s economy is heavily reliant on agriculture, which provides employment for around 90% of the workforce and accounts for some 85% of exports. Coffee itself brings in roughly $135 million per year. 90% of coffee within the country is grown by smallholders, and nearly 75% of volume is Arabica rather than Robusta. Due to the standard producer profile, it is not surprising that low yields pose particular difficulties for the industry’s sustainability. In an attempt to address this, the TCB has developed a coffee strategy (adopted in 2001 and revised in 2012) that focuses on increasing clean coffee production so some 100,000 tons by year 2021. Quality is a significant part of the equation, and the goal is to have at least 70% of the country’s coffee placed on specialty markets by the same year. Also, as an extension of this goal, the Tanzania Coffee Research Institute (TaCRI) was established in the early 2000s with two main aims: to improve the livelihoods of farmers and to further develop a sustainable, profitable and prosperous coffee industry in Tanzania. As part of these goals, the Institute has set itself the aim or replanting all of the country’s 200 million coffee trees with improved varieties.