Coffee: An Important Cash Crop

Coffee is a cash crop grown in ca. 80 countries in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. For many of these countries, it is an important source of foreign currency, fetching producing countries on average US$20.2 billion annually between 2010 and 2015. Smallholder farmers play a major role in the coffee production chain, as they are estimated to deliver between 80-90% of the coffee produced. As such, coffee cultivation can play an important role in generating direct income, employment, and output to rural areas.

Global coffee production has increased nearly 40% since 2010 and should double or triple by 2050 to keep up with demand. However, coffee cultivation is plagued by a number of problems. While the populations of both Africa and Latin America are very young, the average coffee farmer is above 60 and 50 years of age respectively. A commonly cited reason for this is that despite record-high coffee prices, farmgate prices are very low and farmers have little power in the supply chain, leading to economic instability for coffee farmers. On top of this, climate change is expected to severely impact coffee production. Although some studies suggest that this impact might be limited, other studies suggest that coffee pests and diseases will rise, coffee yield and quality will decline, and typical coffee production regions will become less suitable. New regions that will become suitable for coffee production are often still covered by forests, which could lead to increased deforestation.

“Coffee cultivation can play an important role in generating direct income, employment in, and output to rural areas”

“Robusta coffee contributes to 40% of the world coffee production and its share increases with ca. 2% per year.”

Baker (2014) estimates that the rise in coffee production combined with the less fertile traditional coffee areas leads to more than 100 000 ha per year deforested for new coffee plantations. This deforestation is suggested to undermine any efforts made to make coffee production more sustainable.

Coffee production is based on two species, Coffea arabica (‘Arabica’) and Coffea canephora (‘Robusta’). These two contribute to respectively 60% and 40% of the world production. Although the exact impact of global change on coffee production is still under debate, severe impacts on coffee yield and quality are expected if no adaptation takes place. In general, climatic suitability for Arabica is predicted to decrease in Meso-America and East Africa. Robusta is expected to compensate this decline, mainly in America, Indonesia, and Africa. Consequently, the share of Robusta is increasing with ca. 2% each year. By 2030, Robusta will represent more than 50% of the world production. Nevertheless, most research and development is focusing on Arabica. Moreover, studies are usually performed in a limited number of countries, such as Brazil, Vietnam, Indonesia, Uganda, and India.

In Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi, coffee is an important, if not the most important export product and source of foreign revenues. In the DRC, Robusta coffee was an important export product until the 1980s. Congolese authorities and the World Bank have identified Robusta and Arabica coffee as an important cash crop and a tool for achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals in the DRC. 

In several provinces, the Congolese government and international organizations are investing in the rehabilitation of the coffee value chain and plantations. In addition, small farmers and private investors are interested in the relaunch of Robusta cultivation in the Tshopo Province. Coffee cultivation in the DRC is, however, fraught with a complicated history (colonisation, decolonisation, and instability) and with a lack of knowledge transfer between stakeholders. Nevertheless, the revival of the highland Arabica coffee in Eastern DRC in the last decade illustrates that the relaunch of coffee can be successful and a tool for development. In a relatively short period, various traders invested in the region once again. However, a revival is only sustainable if local research infrastructure, capacity, and genetic resources are available. The success of Robusta in Brazil, India, Vietnam, and Uganda was always accompanied by the development of local research capacity, as adaptation to the local situation is essential. 

The CoffeeBridge project responds to the lack of research and knowledge transfer, limited collaboration between different actors, and requests from local farmer associations, governmental bodies, and entrepreneurs asking for help to initiate a coffee chain in the Tshopo Province. The project will identify opportunities and pitfalls of the relaunch of the coffee chain in the region, strengthen local capacities, and provide a baseline for the development of coffee research locally. 

“The project will identify opportunities and pitfalls of the relaunch of the coffee chain in the Tshopo region”

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