Africa-Press – Tanzania. MINISTER for Agriculture, Prof Adolf Mkenda, has assured coffee farmers that the government will continue to create a favourable environment to increase productivity in order to cater for the domestic and global market.
He also assured the Tanzania Coffee Board (TCB) and the Tanzania Trade Development Authority (TanTrade) that the government will work with them to ensure that the country’s coffee excels in domestic and foreign markets, including in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries and of the East African Community (EAC).
According to TCB figures, coffee consumption in the country is only seven per cent while 93 per cent is consumed abroad especially in European and American countries.
Prof Mkenda said at the launching of the Coffee Drinking Day at the ongoing 45th Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair (DITF). The day was organized by TCB and TanTrade with the aim of promoting coffee drinking for people visiting the fair to enhance health and the local market.
The government was aware that there were times when coffee farmers were reluctant to continue farming due to poor farming and productivity, but the government was committed to working with all coffee stakeholders including farmers, TCB and TanTrade to ensure it restores hope to farmers.
“There are people who gave up to produce coffee, I am encouraging them not to give up, as we will send more extension officers and address various challenges facing the sector,” said Prof Mkenda.
He noted that his ministry had strived to minimize the challenge by increasing the budget for extension officers from 600m/- which is normally allocated per year to 11.5bn/-.
Prof Mkenda highlighted the main challenges facing the coffee sector across the country as low productivity in terms of quality and quantities.
“The main challenge facing this sector is low productivity caused mainly by inadequate production and distribution to farmers of the new varieties of Arabica and Robusta coffee seedlings which give higher yields per unit area,” said the Minister, adding that much needs to be done to produce in masses the above seedlings later to be distributed to farmers for planting.
TanTrade Director General, Edwin Rutageruka, said the day was arranged as part of the plan to boost the local and international markets.
TCB Acting Director General, Primus Kimaryo, said there are 28 coffee processing factories in the country but its consumption in the country is only seven per cent and 93 per cent is foreign consumption.
Mr Kimaryo said they are working to increase coffee consumption from seven per cent to 15 per cent to improve people’s health but also to eliminate dependence on the foreign market which is faltering causing a crisis for farmers and dealers of the product.
“We can be market secure by strengthening the domestic market. The foreign market is good when the situation is good but when the world economy stagnates, the crisis is greater for the trader who relies more on the foreign market than the domestic market, so this coffee campaign wants to strengthen the domestic market more, ”said Mr Kimaryo.
Statistics for the year 2020 show that Finland is currently the world’s leading coffee drinker with an average of 12 litres of coffee per year.
