Africa-Press – Tanzania. The coffee which is produced in Kagera region has attracted the acquisition of a reliable international market for coffee crops after substantive measures to increase its quality.
Speaking to reporters, KDCU General Manager, Mr Oscar Mujuni said the confidence from the global market for coffee crops was attributed by various adjustments, which were made to the entire agricultural process based on the quality of coffee produced.
Mr Mujuni said that they have been able to find these buyers following the decision to focus on the quality of the crop which has boosted the confidence of coffee buyers in the world who are now importing the largest amount of coffee from Tanzania.
“KDCU has successfully acquired coffee buyers from European countries including Switzerland, the United Kingdom and France, a situation that increases productivity for members of the cooperative,” he said.
He explained that the current cooperative system has increased the value of coffee collected from the farmers and brought to industries for processing and grading in various categories, enabling the coffee produced in Karagwe and Kyerwa districts to reach international markets including London, UK and New York. United States.
Mr. Mujuni has compared the current improvement of the coffee crop with previous years by giving the example of 2017, when the coffee produced at that time was sold by its pods if it was not of great value while being sold to anyone, with no additional information if the coffee was reaching to the international coffee market.
“Thanks to the management of the cooperatives, the farmer has now been able to realize the importance of selling his coffee without pods if it has been dried up, which raises the value of coffee and increases prices in the international market,” he added.
Speaking on the impact of this move, Mr. Mujuni said the production and processing of coffee crops in Kagera region has significantly reduced unemployment by increasing the number of thousands of people who are self-employed or unemployed in the cultivation of the crop including young people, women and even the elderly, which has increased their income and raised the standard of living.
He added that the decision in adding value to the coffee crop has given the farmer the assurance that the coffee he sells will be bought at a higher price in the world market, than it was previously when coffee was sold at any level that was not productive in price.
According to a study conducted by KDCU, Karagwe and Kyerwa districts, which through the KDCU through its 125 primary cooperative associations, have increased productivity in the crop significantly, especially in season of the crop in 2019/2020 to the season of 2021.
