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Coffee output drops as demand rises

Saturday February 20 2010
Coffee

A farmer prunes coffee bushes at a family plantation in Kiambu district, Kenya. Photo/REUTERS

Coffee-growing countries in East Africa are performing poorly in production at a time when the global demand is skyrocketing.

Annual world coffee consumption is growing at 2.4 per cent, and is projected to reach 170 million bags in the next 10 years, far below an estimated production of 140 million bags, if the current growth rates are maintained, says International Coffee Organisation (ICO) executive director Nestor Osorio.

“The coffee sector is receiving fewer subsidies and production is going down every year. African coffee has not been able to compete well with that from the rest of the world,” he told participants at the Seventh African Fine Coffee Conference and Exhibition in Mombasa recently.

The Eastern African Fine Coffee Association (EAFCA), a body of stakeholders drawn from 10 African nations, hosted the meeting, drawing participants worldwide.

In Kenya, the 2009 Economic Survey showed that the coffee sub-sector registered a 21.3 per cent decline in production from 53,400 tonnes in 2006/07 to 42,000 tonnes in the 2007/08 crop. This was mainly due to the effects of adverse weather.

The volume of coffee produced in Kenya has been on a steady decline, from a high of 128,000 tonnes in 1987/88 to 42,000 tonnes in 2007/08.

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According to EAFCA, high production costs and limited availability of land, labour and water are key challenges to the region’s coffee industry.

The specialty coffee produced in Kenya is about 80 per cent, the highest in the region.

Tanzania produces an estimated 33,000 tonnes of arabica and 22,000 tonnes of robusta, with specialty arabica currently estimated at 25 per cent. Out of the estimated 22,000 tonnes robusta, specialty is at 20 per cent.

In the past four months of the coffee year that started last October, Uganda exported 58,276.5 tonnes, valued at US $91.9 million.

This represented an overall drop of 10 per cent and 15 per cent in volume and value, respectively, compared with a similar period last year.

“Therefore, this year’s exportable production has been revised to around 180,000 tonnes, down from 204,000 tonnes,” the report said.

This year, 34 coffee exporting companies registered, but in January only 22 performed.

The 22 exported coffee to leading importers in the EU, Sudan and Switzerland. Other coffee importers include the US, South Africa, India, Israel, Egypt, Morocco, Australia and Singapore.

Uganda and Tanzania wet mill processing stands at 7 per cent and 11 per cent, respectively.

Rwanda’s processing is 14 per cent, compared with 71 per cent in Burundi, said David Browning of Technoserve, a firm that works with low income coffee areas.

He added that there is a need to improve the quality of the crop produced.

“Adopting a number of agronomy best practices, such as nutrition, pest control and disease management, rejuvenation and pruning, weeding, mulching and soil erosion control can double the yields in the region,” he said.

Climate change could also affect coffee production and quality in the region.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) projects an average temperature rise of 0.2 centigrade per decade, which will have far-reaching effects on agriculture, said Joseph Kimemia of the Coffee Research Foundation.

“This rise in temperature will shift optimal growing zones, affect rainfall and lead to a change in crop diseases and pests,” Dr Kimemia said.

East African coffee is regarded as specialty in the global market, but experts said there was still room for improvement.

EAFCA coffee outlook 2010 predicts that production will be constant in the short-term, owing to the effects of bi-annual fluctuation of coffee production.

Meanwhile, Uganda is revising its coffee production forecast downwards as deteriorating weather affects production.

Sector coordinator Uganda Coffee Development Authority says less coffee is coming out of the fields, with volumes for the first four months of the season falling 10 per cent over the corresponding period last year.

By Gitonga Marete, Kihara Githua and Halima Abdallah

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