Stakeholders bid to revive Africa’s coffee industry

Mr Abdullah Bagersh, African Fine Coffee Association’s chairman, addresses coffee stakeholders at Nairobi’s Safari Park Hotel on Friday. [Photo: Allan Muturi/Standard]

It was difficult for coffee players to be excited during last week’s media launch of the 12th African Fine Coffee Conference and Exhibition in Nairobi, given the growing disquiet in the sector.

Declining productivity, high costs of production, volatile prices, climate change and outdated technology seem to have conspired to wreak havoc at the same time, leading to lower earnings for coffee farmers in Eastern Africa. The industry is also facing stiff competition from other beverages, such as tea, fruit juices and alcoholic drinks.

Increasing output

To give farmers a glimmer of hope during these trying times, the region’s 11 countries, which fall under the umbrella of the African Fine Coffee Association (AFCA), have resolved to fast-track programmes to increase productivity and encourage farmers to adopt modern agricultural practices.

However, Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Felix Koskei, who presided over the launch, said existing challenges along the coffee value chain — such as insecurity, political instability and high production costs — need to be addressed alongside efforts to boost productivity.

“Increasing production from the current low production will result in a resurgence of growth back to the years when coffee was a major income earner for countries in Eastern and Southern Africa,” he said.

AFCA Chairman Abdullah Bagersh, also speaking at the Friday launch, said new thinking is needed to revitalise the industry and improve the lives of the millions of people who depend on coffee.

In the region’s countries, average coffee production per tree stands at less than five kilogrammes. Yet, in Kenya for instance, coffee bushes have the potential to produce more than 30 kilogrammes each if crop husbandry is improved.

“The world’s consumption of coffee is increasing tremendously, but production is decreasing.

“Most of the region’s countries have been ranked among the world’s emerging economies, instigating the high consumption,” Mr Bagersh said, adding that this creates huge opportunities for farmers to tap into the growing middle class to improve their fortunes.

AFCA members also held a two-day conference to discuss how Africa can reclaim its position on the coffee production map, and what it can learn from successful producers in Asia and South America.

Stiff competition

Mr Robert Nsibirwa, an AFCA board member, added that though coffee is facing competition from other beverages, its global consumption is still high, currently at 2.25 billion of cups a day.

However, according to the latest data from the International Coffee Organization (ICO), Eastern Africa’s 11 countries last year produced 12.5 million bags of coffee collectively. During the same year, Brazil, the world’s leading coffee producer, harvested 49.15 million bags. Kenya produced 750,000 bags.

AFCA’s Kenya chapter chairman, Dr Joseph Kimemia, said the region’s farmers need to adopt new coffee varieties that can withstand climate change if production is to increase.

“Coffee is likely to suffer the adverse effects of global warming, more so due to the changing temperatures.”

The AFCA conference and exhibition, which aims to promote coffee farming in the region, will be held in February next year at Nairobi’s Safari Park Hotel, under the theme, “Productivity: The key to the sustainable resurgence of the African coffee industry”.

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