Fine Coffee`s

The African
Fine Coffee’s
January - March 2012
Review Magazine
Heading out
to west
The fine
Rwandan Roast
The Law of
Averages
Farm tools accessories
Coffee & Grain Handling, Processing
& Storage Equipment
Quality Control Equipment
Generation, Machetes and Nylex & Shade Nets
your relaible source of equipment in Eastern & Central Africa
Mudher Industrial Park
Along Mombasa Road
(next to soham patrol station)
P.O.Box 76561-00508 Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: +254 2021021024 / 2107254 / 2107259
/ 2107000
Email: [email protected]
www.brazafri.com
01
WE SHARE OUR FINEST
ARABICA COFFEE
WITH THE WORLD! !
01
The
Brewing Pot
The Coffee Corner
5
EAFCA News
07 EAFCA
Hold special Japan Study Tour
12
EAFCA-CQI Hosts 2
Regional Trainings for Africa
Training of
Auditors under CFC Project
13
Regional Q-Instructor
Training and Certification
08 9th AFCC & E
Launched in Style in Addis
EAFCA holds the first
2011 – 2012 Taste of Harvest
Competition in Malawi
10 EAFCA highlighted in
USAID 50th year Celebration
EAFCA
holds the first 2011 – 2012 Taste of
Harvest Competition in Malawi
11
EAFCA-UCTF
Breakfast
14
15
TACri wins
Tanzania 2011 National Taste of
Harvest Competition
EAFCA features in
EU - AAACP Documentary
Traders Trained
in Price Risk Management in Uganda.
EAFCA meets Key IWCA
Representatives in Burundi and
Rwanda.
Coffee News
16 UCTF hold the 2nd
19
17 Top Coffees in
20 Lifetime Achievement prize goes to
18 Ethiopian Tepi
Jeremy Block Purchases Controlling
Holding in Dorman Coffee
Uganda Coffee Day
Rwanda fetch Record Prices
Top Coffees in
Rwanda fetch Record Prices
Plantation now under
the new management of Green PLC
Top Scientists
warn of increased Pest
Attacks due to Climate Change.
EAFCA Member TRIBECA
Wins SCASA Coffee Excellence Award
EAFCA Member
John Schluter at SCAE’s Awards for
Coffee Excellence
21
Alejandro Mendez of El Salvador
becomes First 2011 World Barista
Champion from a Producer Country
03
The
Brewing Pot
25
22 Burundi Hold First Prestige Cup
30
37
23 Coffee Millers Inaugurate
New Ksh 20 Million Plant in Kisii Kenya
Sangana Commodities
Ltd Hosts Conference
on Climate Change and Coffee
Special Reports
24
26
28
Improving gender relations
in coffee farming households
for equitable and sustainable
development
“Heading Out WestExplores How The Coffee Prices
May Be Greatly assisting the
Kenyan Coffee Industry Find
New Farm Land”
Against The Odds
The Story of how Ndumberi
Coffee Farmers Co-operative
Society changed its fortunes
33
The Law Of Averages
35
When The Banks
went Down-Town
37
Vision 2015
39
Mechanical Siphons, Pulping
Technology & Flexibility
41
“Better Times Ahead
for The Zambian Coffee
Industry”
30
The Fine Rwandan Roast Efforts by the Rwanda
Government to construct
Coffee Roasting plant
42
A Marriage of Convenience Raising a Case for Increased
Research Support in Uganda
31
Coffee Katana:
The Samurai Comes to Africa
44
Taking The Plunge…
04
The
Coffee Corner
e would like to start by congratulating our strategic
partner USAID on their 50th Anniversary. Their
contribution in the region has been fundamental in
helping fine coffees from the EAFCA region reach the
level that it has reached now.
W
The response to the October – December 2011 issue was
phenomenal and our gratitude to those EAFCA members
and stakeholders that shared with us their views, feedback
and advice.
The January – March 2012 issue will also feature as our Annual
Magazine that will be released in print form at the 9th African
Fine Coffees Conference and Exhibition in Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia.
In this issue our magazine introduces a special new blog,
Sokoni, one that we hope the readers will appreciate.
Huge long term developments are occurring in the region,
which this magazine is privileged to highlight in depth.
Coffee Katana; The Samurai Comes to Africa is our feature article highlighting the
increasing interest by Japanese Stakeholders in African Fine Coffees. This insightful article
will delve deep into the fascinating culture and history of Japanese and their fine taste for
quality and artisanship.
Heading out West explores how the Coffee Prices may be greatly assisting the Kenyan
Coffee Industry find New Farm land while When the banks went down town focuses on
the growing interest from banks in the small and medium enterprises market and what this
means for Ugandan local coffee players.
The Law of Averages provides a review of the New EAFCA Taste of Harvest Strategy
and what it means for the “Way Above Average” or “Excellent” Coffee from the EAFCA
Region. The Fine Rwandan Roast provides insight into the Efforts by the Rwandese
Government to Construct Coffee Roasting Plant.
Against the odds features the story of the Ndumberi Farmer Group and also focus on
the initiative by Hanns R. Neumann Stiftung in improving the Gender relations in coffee
farming households.
This issue will also take a few of our top articles from our previous issue and share them
with our readers as well as highlight EAFCA activities in the region over the past year.
This Annual Magazine promises to give the readers and followers of this magazine a
wealth of insight and depth into the African Fine Coffees Region. The richness of the
articles and news we hope will transport readers from their desktops, laptops, smart
phones and iPads into our farms, warehouses, trade floors and coffees houses.
In the end, (rephrasing a famous quote) something things are better rich; farmers, Coffee
and African Fine Coffees Review Magazine.
Advisory Board
Editors
Associate Editors
Harrison Kalua
Samuel Kamau
Filtone Sandando
Lionel H. E. de Roland-Phillips
Maraka Martin
Ben Sitati
Design by Givan Innovations Ltd. [email protected], +256 (0) 774196565.
05
01
The
Eafca News
A round up of EAFCA Activities
in the Region around the year.
EAFCA
Hold special Japan
Study Tour
Afri
can Coffees
F
The trip sort to achieve several things
including identifying new business
opportunities in Japan: find the behaviour of
Japanese Coffee consumers, market
penetration, promote African Coffees at the
SCAJ Exhibition, enhance cooperation between
JETRO and EAFCA and interact/establish
relationships with potential Japanese Coffee
Exporters.
rom 24th September to 1st October
2011, EAFCA in partnership with JETRO
organised a special study tour of
Japan by representatives from seven
EAFCA Chapters.
The trip sort to achieve several things
including identifying new business
opportunities in Japan: find the behaviour
of Japanese Coffee consumers, market
penetration, promote African Coffees at
the SCAJ Exhibition, enhance cooperation
between JETRO and EAFCA and interact/
establish relationships with potential
Japanese Coffee Exporters.
Vast lessons were learnt from the trip by the
EAFCA Chapter Team:
•
Africa Coffees are not very well
known in Japan, except for Ethiopian
and Tanzanian Coffees. But there
exists great potential for the African
Coffees.
•
The Japanese Government is
very strict on quality issues. As African
producers, we need to take great
care on what is used on our products.
•
Japanese consumers have a
good appetite for award winning
Coffees as these show superiority. The
Japanese market prefers top quality
coffees.
EAFCA’s relationship with JETRO
encouraged many Japanese
Companies who showed significant
interest in attending the 9th AFCC & E
in Addis Ababa. Also EAFCA was able
to enhance its relationships with SCAA,
SCAJ and SCAK.
The select team were able to negotiate deals on the spot while others
were able to further arrange for local
chapter trips for new Japanese
Contacts formed.
07
9th AFCC & E
Launched in Style in Addis
O
n the 4th of November 2011,
members of the EAFCA Ethiopian
Coffee Fraternity joined
industry officials and stake
holders in launching the 9th African Fine
Coffees Conference and Exhibition that will
be held on the 16th to 18th February 2012 in
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The event that was
held at the Sheraton Addis - Lalibela
Ballroom drew over 90 of Ethiopia’s top
coffee stakeholders.
The guest of honour Trade Minister
Abdurahman Sheik Ahmed said that the
event would be a good opportunity for
delegates to taste the many varieties that
Ethiopia and other fine coffee producing
countries have to offer.
The EAFCA Chapter Chair and long time
EAFCA member, Abdullah Bagersh, further
added that event would play a key role in
building Ethiopia’s positive image, creating
market linkages and promoting knowledge
transfer.
He added the exhibition will serve as a
platform for showing the best coffees,
connecting buyers and sellers as well as
building trade relations.
Also present were Harrison Kalua,
Chairman Board of EAFCA Directors and
Several Regional Chapter Chairmen
representing Uganda, Kenya, South Africa,
Zambia, Rwanda and Burundi.
EAFCA
holds the first 2011 – 2012
Taste of Harvest Competition in
F
rom the 10th – 14th of
October 2011, the Eastern
African Fine Coffees
Association (EAFCA) in
partnership with the Coffee
Association of Malawi
(CAMAL) and the Coffee
Quality Institute through the
USAID- COMPETE program held
the first Annual Taste of Harvest
Coffee Competition and Barista Training of the 2011 – 2012
Calendar in Blantyre, Malawi.
08
The annual Taste of Harvest
(TOH) competition was held
at the Sable Farming Head
Office and Protea Hotel
Ryalls in Blantyre through
their generous venue
sponsorship, under the
tutelage of highly trained
and experienced
facilitators Ms. Colleen
Anunu from the USA and the
coordinator from the EAFCA
Secretariat Ms. Mbula
Malawi
“The
Winning
coffee came
from the
Mzuzu
Smaller
holder trust with
84.5 points.”
COOPERATIVE/
EXPORTER / FARM
Mzuzu Smallholder Trust- Misuku
GRADE CODES POINTS RANK
AA
2/408
COMMENTS
84.5
1 Floral, vanilla, black currant, tropical fruit,
Ethiopia: The Legendary Land where it all Began
intense aromatics, creamy silky, complex
Acidity, spicy finish
Mzuzu Smallholder Trust- Misuku
AB
1/405
83.55
2 Ripe fruit, chocolate, floral, jasmine, bright
Satemwa Tea and Coffee Estate
AA
12/502
82.4
3 Dark chocolate, caramel, sweet strawlike
Sable Farming
AA
5/406
82.4
3 Papaya, melon fruit, tangy plum, cherry
Njuli Coffee Estate
AA
8/407
82.15
Mutahi. The Winning coffee came
from the Mzuzu Smaller holder trust
with 84.5 points.
Also 25 baristas and
hospitality establishment owners
attended the 2 day barista work-
malic acid, smooth silky body. Balanced
crust, clean, malic tangy mellow acidity
sweet, balanced, smoky dry finish, toasted nuts in aroma, butterish flavor
5 Dark chocolate, caramel, citric, fresh,
winey.
shop that is aimed at improving domestic preparation, service and
consumption of fine Malawi coffees
among the general public.
3rd African Barista
CHALLENGE
15th-18th
February 2012
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
The Competition that brings together
Africa’s Top champion Baristas
www.africanfinestcoffee.com
www.africanfinestcoffee.com
EAFCA
highlighted in USAID 50th
year Celebration
On 28th Oct 2011,
the Eastern
African Fine
Coffees
Association
receivedspecial recognition by Diana
Putman, the Mission Director for DRC. She
highlighted EAFCA’s role in improving the
coffee quality around the EAFCA Region
and its effect on prices fetched by the
regional coffees. In her
interview she also described the
positive effect the USAID Program
had on a community of coffee
growers in the Democratic Republic
of the Congo and USAID’s
commitment to making this world a
better place.
To watch his documentary please type in the words; Supporting Coffee growers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
on Youtube and enjoy the video courtesy of USAidVideo
CFC/EAFCA Team attend 50th IACO Annual
General Assembly and Conference
and the way forward for
the African Coffee Industry.
The Eastern African Fine
Coffees Association was
represented by Mr. Samuel Kamau (Executive
Director), Mr. Filtone Sandando (Project Manager)
and Mr. Martin Maraka
(Programs Associate).
F
rom the 21st to the 25th of November 2011, EAFCA attended
the 50th Inter-African Coffee
Organization (IACO) Annual General Assembly and Conference in
Nairobi, Kenya. The conference
theme, Coffee Renaissance in Africa: the time is now” was focused
on reviewing steps already taken
10
EAFCA was awarded a
slot to make a presentation on the “Private Sector
Perspective of the Industry”.
In this presentation, Mr.
Kamau (Executive Director) highlighted the efforts
by EAFCA to build linkages
with in the region with
Special emphasis on the
CFC/ICO/EU project on
building capacity in coffee certification / verification in the EAFCA region.
EAFCA was also able to
secure a strategic booth
space to display their
brochures and other
materials. The booth that
was situated right in front
of the main conference
entrance was visited by
several interested parties
including senior IACO delegates during the official
booth tour by the Guest of
Honour.
The team was able to raise
more awareness of the
CFC/ ICO /EU project in
the region as well as several other projects EAFCA
is carrying out through the
presentation and exhibition space.
The team was also able
to meet and network with
delegates from West Africa who hope join EAFCA
come the re-branding to
AFCA so as to enjoy several training and benefits
associated with EAFCA
Membership.
EAFCA as the Project Executing Agency (PEA) will
continue to take advantage of such opportunities
in order to publicise the
project as well as strengthen the EAFCA Brand.
TACri wins Tanzania 2011 National Taste of Harvest Competition
TACRI Official receives prized trophy from Guest of Honour, Hon. Musa
Samizi and EAFCA Quality & Marketing Manager Mbula Musau. Also
in-set is Primus Kimaryo (left) from Tanzania Coffee Board
F
rom 14th - 17th November
2011, EAFCA in partnership with
TCB and CQI held the 2011
National Taste of Harvest Competition at the offices and laboratory
of Mazao Ltd in Moshi, Tanzania. The
guest of Honor was Hon. Musa Samizi,
the District Commissioner of Moshi
Municipality.
The competition was led by Head
Judge Ms. Mbula Musau from the
EAFCA Secretariat in Uganda and International Judge Jonathan Ferguson
from Coffee Quality Institute, USA who
were supported by a team of four
highly qualified Tanzanian Q- cuppers.
The winner in the Arabica category
this year, Tanzania Coffee Research
Institute (TaCRI), has been implementing a meticulous germplasm
enhancement programme to develop high yielding Arabica coffee
varieties that combine durable resistance to the devastating two coffee
diseases in Tanzania, Coffee Berry
Disease (CBD) and Coffee Leaf Rust
(CLR), with good beverage quality
to increase productivity and quality,
reduce costs of production and in-
crease growers’ incomes and profits.
At the end of the competition, EAFCA hosted a cocktail
reception/“coffee club” at the San
Salinero Hotel that brought together
EAFCA members and other public
and private sector coffee stakeholders from Tanzania to network
and pay tribute to the ToH winners
who received trophies and certificates.
The country submitted 34
Arabica samples and the top 5
winners in this category are:
1.
TACRI Traditional (A,B and AA
85.46
2.
MCOMAFA Co. LTD Grade PB
85.38
3.
Tudesia Grade AA
84.54
4.
MCOMAFA Co. LTD Grade AA
84.46
5.
Tutunze Kahawa Ltd. Grade PB
84.13
The country submitted 4
Robusta samples and the best 2 from
this category are:
1.
K.D.C.U. Ltd Robusta FT Organic
FAQ
81.50
2.
A.P. Kakama - Robusta Superior
80.34
11
Training of Auditors
under
CFC Project
Uganda, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Zambia
Tanzania and Zimbabwe. The identified accredited certification bodies (companies)
to undertake the training were Africert Ltd
(www.africert.co.ke) and QualityPlus International Ltd (www.qualityplus.co.ke).
The training was in two components, vis-avis, classroom sessions and field work, in form
of practical participation in actual auditing.
For classroom sessions, a minimum of forty
hours per week was required to be fulfilled
by the participating candidates. The certification standards covered in this training are
Utz Certified, Rainforest Alliance, 4C Association, CAFE Practices and ISO 9001.
F
rom the 7th to the 27th August 2011,
EAFCA trained certification auditors /
verifiers under the CFC/ICO/EU project
on building capacity in coffee certification / verification in the EAFCA region. The
training that was held in Nairobi drew a total
of 9 auditors from 5 Countries.
The training strategy is to engage accredited certification bodies to undertake training of the identified auditor candidates from
the nine project participating countries. The
participating countries are Burundi, Ethiopia,
The trained auditors will be accredited to
certification bodies so that the can undertake certification auditing in their respective
countries. Hereby reducing on the cost of
certification and building capacity for certification. This leads to the ultimate fulfilment
of objective of the project – the building
of capacity in National Coffee Institutions
(NCI).
This was the first of four trainings that EAFCA/
CFC Project has scheduled for the region on
the Certified/Verification Auditors.
EAFCA-CQI
Hosts 2 Regional Trainings for Africa
T
he Eastern African Fine Coffees Association in partnership with the Coffee
Quality Institute would like to announce
the completion of two quality based
trainings; the first regional Robusta workshop
12
in Kampala Uganda and the first regional QInstructor Workshop in Nairobi Kenya.
Regional Robusta Cupper Training And Certification
From the 11th – 16th July, 2011 EAFCA in
collaboration with Coffee Quality Institute
CQI organized the first regional workshop
following the formulation of the Robusta
protocols/standards. These protocols were
formulated with the expert guidance from
the Coffee Quality Institute as a means of
differentiating fine Robusta for the specialty
market, and will enable Robusta farmers to
improve their livelihoods.
EAFCA in its mandate promotes the production and trade of both Arabica and Robusta
fine coffees in the continent, and has been
key in discussions to identify profile and
award the finest Robusta coffees through
its quality initiatives over the last few years.
Uganda Coffee Development Authority
(UCDA) has played a major role in this development and played host to the Regional
R-Graders Certification Workshop from 11th
to 16th July 2011 in Kampala, Uganda.
The course was intended to provide an
intensive review of the cupping and grading
protocols required of a certified “R” (Robusta) Grader combined with a comprehensive evaluation of an individual’s ability to
consistently cup and grade green Robusta
coffee leading to a professional certification
credential.
The Course drew 16 participants from Gabon, DRC, Togo, Uganda & Tanzania.
Regional Q-Instructor
Training and Certification
and Exam with emphasis on presentation
of course materials, conduct of all test
and course administrative requirements. It
gave rise to the first batch of 13 Assistant
Q- Instructors from 4 African countries. The
group who are already certified Q-Graders
can now go through the next few steps of
becoming fully certified Q-Instructors.
They were drawn from all sectors, Public,
Private and NGO / Project organizations.
The program was co-sponsored by USAIDCOMPETE as well as the participant’s organizations.
T
he following week in Nairobi Kenya,
Eastern African Fine Coffees Association EAFCA in collaboration with
Coffee Quality Institute CQI, organized the first regional Q-Instructor workshop
from 19th - 22nd July.
The course is an intensive review of the
Combination Q Grader Training Course
EAFCA-UCTF
Breakfast
The Executive Director of Coffee Quality Institute Mr. Ted Lingle and Dr. Manuel
Diaz, both world renowned and respected
coffee experts assisted by Roukiat Delrue
one of CQI assistant trainers delivered the
course to the participants.
O
n the 9th September 2011, the
Eastern African Fine Coffees Association hosted its members and local coffee stakeholders for a high
level breakfast to discuss the Taste of Harvest
Highlights, the new EAFCA marketing strategy and Purchase Order Finance as a More
Secure and Flexible Source of Finance for
the Coffee Industry. A total of 98 participants
attended this breakfast.
The Key Presenter at this event Victor Gitobu,
COMPETE Financial Advisor, made a presen-
13
tation on Purchase Order Finance raised interest from the traders with in the room. USAID
COMPETE is working with financial institutions
in East Africa to increase the use of POF for
the targeted value chains of Staple Foods (SF)
including maize, beans, rice, wheat, sorghum,
millet, soya, barley; Specialty Coffee (SC);
and Cotton, Textiles and Apparel (CTA).
finance for businesses and farmers in these
value chains as well as in other important
value chains throughout East Africa.
The key sponsor of this event was COMPETE
US Aid while the local host Uganda Coffee
Trade Federation played a key role with the
on the ground support
They believe that POF will improve access to
EAFCA features in
EU - AAACP Documentary
gramme (AAACP) is a development investment funded by the European Commission
with the objective to improve incomes and
livelihoods for producers from agricultural
commodities and to reduce income vulnerability at both producer and macro levels. This
objective meet development goals for improving profitability of agricultural commodity
sectors, supporting access to markets and
market information and deepening financial
services in rural areas.
O
n the 2nd of August 2011, EAFCA,
featured in a documentary entitled
“Testimonials from the Field” showing casing the impact of the ACP
Agricultural Commodities Programme efforts
in improving producer livelihoods across three
value chains; cassava, cotton and coffee.
EAFCA featured in the documentary as beneficiary of the CFC/ICO/EU project on building capacity in coffee certification / verification in the EAFCA region currently on going.
The All ACP Agricultural Commodities Pro-
The documentary sought to conduct an inquiry into the program 4 years after its launch
in September 2007. The film further looked at
the relevance of the procedures in place, the
effectiveness of the places of action and the
economic & social consequences.
Footage of a Coffee Processing Unit was
captured at the Kyagalanyi Coffee Factory,
an EAFCA member, in Kampala Uganda.
To watch a short extract of the documentary
visit our EAFCA You Tube Page
Traders Trained
in
T
Price Risk Management in Uganda.
he Eastern African Fine Coffees Association (EAFCA) with the support of the
World Bank and the European Union’s
All Africa and Caribbean Agricultural
Programme held a price risk management
training course for coffee industry actors and
other associated organizations such as col-
14
lateral managers in Kampala, Uganda between the 5th and 8th of September,2011 at
the Grand Imperial Hotel. A total of 23 people
attended the training.
Participants were introduced to the concepts
of risk, risk assessment and the use of physical
risk management strategies to manage their
risk exposure. In addition, participants were
sensitized on the use of financial instruments
that can be used as alternatives to physical
tools for hedging their exposure. Lastly, the
course sensitized participants on the workings
of commodity exchanges as well as laid out
a blue print for adoption of price risk
management in their own companies.
The two trainers for the project were Mr. Edgar Kamara and Mr. Robert Nsibirwa, while
the Uganda Coffee Trade Federation provided the local on the ground support.
Participants received certificates at the
EAFCA UCTF breakfast held at the Kampala
Serena Hotel from Mr. Ngabirano (UCDA
Managing Director) and David Barry (Managing Director Kyagalanyi Coffee).
EAFCA meets Key IWCA
Representatives in Burundi and Rwanda.
D
uring the Burundi Prestige Cup and
Cup of Excellence Rwanda, EAFCA
was able to meet with key IWCA
Representatives to discuss challenges
and recommendations to grow local chapters.
In a meeting with Rwanda Chapter Mrs.
Immy Kamarade, proposals were raised such
as training women in coffee on sorting for
example, assisting in land purchase for development and organization of small holders
into associations or group.
On the 9th August 2011, EAFCA was also
able to meet with the president of the International Women in Coffee Alliance - Burundi Chapter Mrs. Euphrasie Mashwabure. Discussion centered on the newly registered
Burundi IWCA chapter. Key issues raised
were development of empowerment education, access to finance, quarterly meetings and development of a Women Coffee
Brand
Currently the Rwanda chapter has 10 members consisting of the president, vice president, secretary or treasurer while others are
founding members. Other initiatives surrounding the gender empowerment are the
Chamber of Women Entrepreneurs which
Immy is also heading, and this has opened
up many opportunities. It is supported by the
private sector federation as well as government. It deals with issues such as tourism,
gender, advocacy.
01
Coffee News
Quick round up
around the Continent
and World
UCTF hold the 2nd
Uganda Coffee Day
Nakanyonyi, the site that drew
over 200 attendees is one of the
few centres that have the nurseries
multiplying the 7 CWDR lines in
the Country.
O
Centre.
n the 6th October 2011,
the Uganda Coffee Trade
Federation (UCTF) held the
2nd Uganda Coffee Day at
the Kyagalanyi Nakanyonyi
This annual convention marks the beginning of the coffee year in Uganda to
focus and appreciate a selected challenge of the industry and also share in the
mitigation strategies of going forward in
the coffee year.
In 2010, the inaugural Uganda Coffee
Day was held at the Agro-genetic Technologies (AGT) in Buloba, focusing on
tissue culture as the most appropriate
technology to rapidly generate seedlings
required in the replanting programme.
16
Since then, discussions between UCDA
and AGT moved on to see how government and the private sector could work
together to solve the coffee stakeholders’ quest for disease free planting materials. Fortunately, the major hurdle to
mass multiplication of the 7 CWDrs lines
currently is the capacity to wean and
harden the delicate seedling from the
laboratory.
Under the theme 2nd Coffee Day “Public Private Partnership (PPP) for Rapid
Multipication of the 7 Coffee Wilt Resistant Lines”, the aim of the day was to
establish ways in which the Public and
Private stakeholders could work together.
Nakanyonyi, the site that drew over
200 attendees is one of the few centres
that have the nurseries multiplying the 7
CWDR lines in the Country. Attendees
were treated to presentations from Key
stake holders and a guided tour of the
mother garden.
Top Coffees in
Rwanda fetch Record Prices
F
ollowing the auction of the 3rd
Cup of Excellence Competitions in August 2011, top coffees
fetched record prices.
place, Robinah Uwera noted that
each winning coffee had its own flavour from the soil where it grows and
all had been handcrafted in such
a way as to enhance these unique
characteristics.
Out of the 189 lots collected to
participate in the Competition, 132
qualified for the national jury and
out of these 36 lots won the competition allowing their coffees to participate in the internet auction.
She also noted that the importance
of these competitions is that the
farmer is not only given a prestigious
award during the ceremony but a
majority of the record prices during
the auction go back to the producers who deserve and need it.
In an interview with a NAEB official,
shortly before the auction took
Auction
Boxes Pounds
#
KG
High Bid Price/KG
Total
Value
Winning Farm
1
33
2,184.78 991
$20.10
$44.31 43,914.08 API Mushonyi Nzabahimana Frodouard
2
31
2,052.50 931
$20.10
$44.31
41,255.25 Kageyo Coffee Ndarusanze Faustin
3
32
2,074.55 941
$16.00
$35.27
33,192.80 Nyakizu CWS Nkunzurwanda Festus
4
30
1,942.27 881
$10.60
$23.37
20,588.06 COCCAN DUHUZIMBARAGA Kamageri Jothan
6
28
1,832.04 831
$10.40
$22.93
19,053.22 Gatare Coffee Bavugamenshi Theobald
8
32
2,118.64 961
$10.25
$22.60
21,716.06 SACOF Rulindo Ndacyayisenga Beatrice
10
29
1,876.13 851
$10.12
$22.31
18,986.44 MARABA III SOVU Ahobantegeye Innocent
5
28
1,854.09 841
$10.05
$22.16
18,633.60 COVACAF KARENGERA Mugambira Aphrodis
7
35
2,295.01 1041
$9.20
$20.28
21,114.09 Kayumbu Nkurikiyinka Joel
12
32
2,096.60 951
$8.91
$19.64
18,680.71 API Mushonyi Gatebuka Thomas
Please see above the top 10 auction results.
T
Negotiations under way to sell
Burundi Coffee directly to the US
wo key personalities from
the Burundi Coffee Sector
were hosted at a special
event in Minneapolis, USA
organized by the Dunn Bros Coffee. Emile Kamwenubusa (USAid)
and Adrien Sibomana (Intercafe
Burundi) were able to discuss a
wide range of topics including the
privatization of the Burundi Coffee
Industry.
Other various areas were covered such as the role of the
United States Agency for International Development in improving Burundi Coffee Farming and
Production and the initiatives that
the country is taking to satisfy the
different market segments for
Specialty Coffee.
Dunn Bros the event organiser
buys coffee directly from Farmers and exporters in Africa and
other parts of the world. It is also
dedicated to selecting the finest of these coffees and freshly
roasting them daily in local shops
in America to deliver the freshest
and best tasting coffees.
17
Ethiopian Tepi
Plantation now under
the new management of Green PLC
O
n the 3rd October 2011, the
Private and Public Supervising Agency (PPESA,) handed
over management of the
Tepi Coffee Plantation to Green Coffee
Agro Industry PLC after the latter bought
51 percent shareholding in the plantation.
The 10,000ht plantation rests in two
regional states with 32 percent in the
Gambella Regional State and the rest in
the Southern Regional States.
The Tepi Coffee Plantation was one of
three plantations under the Coffee Plantation Development Company along
with Bebeka and Limu Coffee Planta-
tions. Bebeka was fully sold to Horizon
Plantation a while back. The Agency
has further plans to sell limu according
to the General Director of PPESA.
The plantation is largely covered by
coffee with the remaining 20 percent
covered by spices, palms and fruit. The
plantation produces five quintals of coffee per hectare using 2,335 permanent
and contractual employees.
According to Tadele Abreha, the general manager, the Company Green
PLC plans to raise the production capacity to 12 quintals. Established in 1998,
the company also has 2,000ht of coffee
in Keffa, Oromia Regional State
Top Scientists
warn of increased Pest
Attacks due to Climate Change.
S
cientists from the International
Centre of Insect Physiology and
Ecology (ICIPE) have warned
that East Africa and South
America could suffer as climate
change drives up the numbers and
distribution of a key pest.
Their research published in the PLoS in
September 2011 forecasted that by
2050 conditions in Southwest Ethiopia
will be much more suitable for the
coffee berry borer.
Researcher and Climate Change
Scientist with the International Center
for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Peter
Laderach, said the coffee berry borer
may not be the only pest that coffee
farmers will have to tackle as climate
changes as scientists have yet to
model the impacts of other pests.
18
Laderach suggested that farmers
embrace the practice of growing
coffee under the shade of larger
trees to cool plantations and make
conditions more favourable for the
pest’s predators.
Africano Kangire, head of the Coffee Research Centre (COREC) in
Uganda, also encouraged coffee
farmers to intercrop their plants with
bananas - which is known to boost
coffee yields - to reduce the impact
of the borer.
He added that researchers are now
breeding Robusta coffee to be
drought tolerant and will also investigate pest tolerance and resistance.
EAFCA Member TRIBECA
Wins SCASA Coffee Excellence Award
according to specific
criteria, namely the
Customer Service,
Station Management,
Technical Skills and
Sensory Evaluation.
O
n 15th November 2011,
South African EAFCA
member TRIBECA won
the Specialty Coffee
Association of Southern Africa (SCASA)
Coffee Excellence
Award. According to
Lani Snyman, Chairman of SCASA, the new
award was established
in South Africa with the
sole purpose of increasing coffee quality instore.
The Coffee Bar in the
Restaurant and the
barista were evaluated
SCASA evaluated 10
restaurants that willingly raised their hand
to participate in this
awarding system, and
announced the winner
with the highest score
at the annual RASA
Gala Rosetta Awards
Dinner. These restaurants will also take part
in the SA Welcome
Awards in early 2012.
This is one of many
accolades the coffee
house has managed
to win, the other being the home of 2011
Africa Barista Challenge Champion, Ishan
Natalie.
The EAFCA Secretariat
and Editorial Team
congratulate them on
this feat!
About TriBeCa
TriBeCa was founded
in 1997, starting out as
a modest coffee shop
in Pretoria. Today, it
boasts over 60 café’s
country wide, and a
state-of-the-art coffee roastery. TriBeCa
proudly focuses on only
roasting 100% Arabica
coffee beans and following a strict “roast
to order” policy. The
roastery uses the finest
up to date technology
and was the first certified Organic roastery
in South Africa. This
facility also proudly accommodates a coffee
laboratory for quality
testing and a Barista
School. Steered by passion, this company is
built on adventure and
sophistication as fresh
as the flavours of their
coffee.
Their website is
www.tribeca.co.za
CFC/ICO/EU CAPACITY BUILDING PROJECT
(CFC/ICO/45)
“Building Capacity in Coffee Certification and Verification for
Specialty Coffee Farmers in EAFCA countries.”
19
Lifetime Achievement prize goes to EAFCA Member
John Schluter at SCAE’s Awards for Coffee Excellence
T
he SCAE’s highest Award, for Lifetime Achievement,
went to veteran trader and African coffee expert
John Schluter in late June.
The SCAE’s Awards for Coffee Excellence were
presented at a special reception at Maastricht’s 17thcentury City Hall just before the opening of World of
Coffee in late June.
The Lifetime Achievement winner, John Schluter, has
decades of coffee trading experience running Schluter
Trading, and currently heads the Café Africa charity,
which is concerned with development issues in coffee
growing communities on the African continent.
Jeremy Block Purchases Controlling
Holding in Dorman Coffee
A
n Englishman, Charles
Dorman, established C.
DORMAN LTD. in 1950
and was the first coffee
roasting business in
Kenya. Charles was a true
pioneer in the coffee industry, serving
as Chairman of the East African Mild
Coffee Association as early as 1939.
Ellen, who was sent by her parents
to Kenya from Germany to escape
the atrocities of the Second World
War, married Charles in 1945. Ellen
later became known as the Grand
Old Dame of coffee, because of
her commitment and passion to the
industry. She carried on the business
after her husband’s death in 1960.
In 1986 Jeremy Block purchased the
business from a retiring Ellen. Ellen
passed away in 1989.
In June 2011 Jeremy Block, bought out
his partners, ED&F Man. Jeremy has
been in the coffee industry for over 25
years, starting as an apprentice of Mrs.
Dorman. Over the past 60 years C.
Dorman has established itself as ‘The
Coffee Experts’ by working in every
aspect of the supply chain, including
trading, roasting and packaging,
retail and barista training. Dorman
employs over 300 Kenyans in coffee
shops, its roasting plant and export
warehouses, as well as in its head
quarters on Milimani Road in Nairobi.
With the recent company changes
Dormans Coffee will maintain its strong
coffee heritage, while seeking ways to
innovate and serve its customers.
Dorman’s Export Division is responsible
for green coffee sourcing and selling
coffee to roasters around the globe.
The company has established itself as
a leader in the coffee industry through
its attention to quality and service,
as well as being a pioneer in coffee
sustainability and certification. Dorman
has a worldwide customer base, which
includes prestigious gourmet roasters
and major users of coffee. Its success
hinges on rigorous quality control,
consistency and attention to customer
specifications. Dorman offers the whole
range of coffees from East Africa.
A state of the art roasting plant in
Nairobi roasts and packs more than
fifteen blends for retail and wholesale
accounts. Dorman has perfected
signature coffee blends and refined
the art of roasting; combining the most
rigid care and quality control in every
step of the production process.
Having perfected the art of producing
signature coffee blends there was
an opportunity to introduce a coffee
drinking culture among Kenyans and
to increase awareness of its brands
locally. It is with this in mind that
Dormans Coffee Limited was born in
2003 opening its first coffee shop at
the Village Market in Gigiri, Nairobi.
Today, there are 11 branches in and
around Nairobi, one in Mombasa as
well as franchises in Jomo Kenyatta
airport and Nanyuki, serving premium
beverages and complementary food
items. Dorman’s baristas maintain
meticulous standards while delivering
a touch of artisan passion with every
cup. Dorman also has a world-class
training center in Nairobi that supports
educating our clients and baristas
across the country on coffee and
espresso beverage preparation.
In early 2012 Dorman plans on opening
two new flagship stores, in Nyali,
Mombasa and at Karen’s Cross Roads.
These shops will support the brands
overall focus in high quality coffee,
community support and great service
from highly qualified staff.
Alejandro Mendez of El Salvador
becomes First 2011 World Barista
Champion from a Producer Country
His
assured
and
imaginative
performance in the Championship,
held in Bogotá in early June, netted
him the top prize, surpassing second
place Pete Licata of the US and Matt
Perger of Australia in third place.
A
t the first World Barista Championship
held in a producing country,
Alejandro Mendez of El Salvador
became the 2011 champion.
Javier Garcia of Spain came fourth,
with Japan’s Miki Suzuki in fifth place
and John Gordon of the UK taking
sixth position. The contest attracted
the best baristas from 53 countries.
21
Switzerland.
Burundi Hold
First Prestige Cup
The Burundi Prestige Cup was
held in Bujumbura Burundi from
the 28th August – 4th September
2011 as a trial run for future Cup
of Excellence events planned for
later in the country.
The EAFCA Secretariat was represented by the Coffee Quality
and Marketing manager, Ms.
Mbula Mutahi who was an observer.
The jury that had been selected
for the BPC had representatives from Japan, Norway, USA,
Uganda, England, Australia and
The results are as follows:
1
Sogestal Kiryama
90.12
2
Sogestal Kiryama
89.31
Sogestal Kinyovu
89.08
4
Gatanga Lot 3
88.85
5
Sogestal Kiryama 15b
88.77
6
Sogestal Kirimiro Gasave Lot 1
88.58
7
Sogestal Kiryama lot 10c
88.54
8
Ngogomo
88.27
9
Sogestal Kinyovu Lot 18
88.19
10
Sogestal Kiryama
86.42
ince October 2008 Sangana Commodities Ltd., the Kenyan subsidiary of the
Ecom Group, and GIZ have been working on climate change issues in the Kenyan
coffee sector. Within the framework of the
“Sangana PPP” additional project partners
such as the 4C Association, Tchibo GmbH
and the World Bank joined the efforts to work
on climate change adaptation and mitigation.
22
The top 10 coffees were sold
on Saturday 3rd September in
an Open Outcry auction at the
same venue of the event. The
best price per pound of green
coffee went to the first place at
7.30 $ while the average price
was at $ 4.25 which is good compared to the price existing at the
time of about $ 3.80. All the top
10 coffees were sold to the jury.
3
Sangana Commodities
Ltd Hosts Conference
on Climate Change and Coffee
S
On the afternoon of 3rd October
the winners were awarded in a
colorful ceremony that was attended by the minister of Agriculture of Burundi among other
dignitaries in the coffee sector in
Burundi.
The Sangana PPP worked on the inclusion of
climate aspects into private voluntary
standards systems – in this case the 4C Code
of Conduct. A voluntary and additional
climate component has been developed
and implemented with the Baragwi Farmers’
Cooperative Society Ltd (BFCS) in Kenya.
Under facilitation by Arshfod Ngugi project
results and lessons learnt were shared with a
wider audience during the conference. Furthermore other initiatives working on the topic
presented their approaches and the topic of
climate change and coffee was discussed in
the Kenyan as well as the international context.
Key Presenters included, Justin Archer,
George Watene from the 4C Association,
Julius Ng’ang’a from SMS Ltd and Kerstin
Linne, Norman Gatugota, Charles Nzioka, Dr.
Kimemia, Karugu Macharia, David Mshila,
Carsten Schmitz-Hoffmann from
and Jacoline Plomp
01
Coffee Millers Inaugurate
New Ksh 20 Million Plant in Kisii Kenya
A milling expert, Cyrus Mwangi Kuria said the
miller has the capacity of processing 1.2 tons of
coffee per hour and has a life span of 27 years.
The manager at the same time asked farmers to
plant more coffee so that the miller cannot be
turned into a white elephant project due to lack
coffee for milling.
Coffee farmers in Kisii, Nyamira and
neighbouring counties have started
milling in Kisii town following the installation of a multimillion shillings plant. Gusii
Cooperative Union general manager
Robert Mainya said the plant, which
started milling in July 2011, will help cut
transportation costs to other millers by
Sh49 million yearly.
Mainya said the mill will discourage
theft of coffee from societies, create
employment opportunities for youth in
the area, and increase returns for farmers. He said the plant, which cost the
farmers Sh20 million, will process clean
coffee to be exported directly thereby
avoiding brokers. “I am discouraging farmers from selling their coffee to
middle-men and instead deliver it for
milling here. The mill will save them from
incurring huge transport costs,” Mainya
said.
A milling expert, Cyrus Mwangi Kuria
said the miller has the capacity of
processing 1.2 tons of coffee per hour
and has a life span of 27 years. The
manager at the same time asked farmers to plant more coffee so that the
miller cannot be turned into a white
elephant project due to lack coffee
for milling. “The machine has a higher
capacity compared to the production
that is why we are encouraging farmers to venture into coffee farming for
the machine to make meaning here,”
he added.
Mainye said the 1.2 tons capacity is
way above what the union’s 50,000
members can produce that is why
there is need for them to venture more
on coffee husbandry. The manager
said that coffee grown in Gusiiland
had proved to be the best in the market due to the soil composition. “As you
are aware our coffee is the best in the
market because the type of soil here.
With the installation of the machine,
farmers are likely to benefit directly
without going through middlemen who
exploit them,” The manager said.
He lamented that though Kenya grows
coffee, the produce is exported for
processing and packaging before it
is’re-exported’ into the country and
sold expensively to the producing
country. Mainya said there is need
for the government to have a coffee
factory which will process, pack and
brand the produce before t is exported
so that farmers can reap maximum
profits.
Engineer Julius Muketha who installed
the machine said that during milling
the coffee beans will go through several processes. He firsts the beans will go
through a hopper where chaff will be
filtered leaving the beans before they
go into a an elevator. Muketha said
that from the elevator, the coffee will
go to the combine unit where there is
a strong magnet to remove any magnetic materials like nails if any.
From the combine unity the coffee
goes through estoner where stones
which might interfere with the smooth
running of the machine and final product are removed. Then seeds then go
to the cold huller where the coffee
husk is removed before it goes to the
Desmetric tables where the parchment
is separated from clean coffee. Eng
Muketha said after the process, three
premium grades area realized that is
AA, AB and PB
23
Special Reports Improving gender relations
Sisters In Coffee
in coffee farming households for equitable and
sustainable development
A Hanns R. Neumann Stiftung Experience
I
About Sisters in Coffee
In this blog, our
correspondents
report on the efforts
undertaken in the
Region to support
Women around the
Coffee Value Chain.
The blog takes its name
from the sister-like
bond forged by this
crop that has lead to
increased cooperation
among women in
the sector to ensure
they are increasingly
represented at all levels.
24
nitiated in 2009, the “Building Coffee Farmers Alliances in Uganda”
(CFAU) project has essentially
changed the lives of over 35.000
coffee farmers in the country. The
project is implemented by Hanns R.
Neumann Stiftung (HRNS) Africa – a
foundation that promotes sustainable development of smallholder
coffee farming communities in
the districts of Masaka, Mityana,
Mubende, Luwero, Nakaseke and
Nakasongola. Since its implementation, the competitiveness of smallholder farmers has tremendously
improved through the establishment
of commercially focused farmer
organizations that teach farmers to
adopt good agricultural practices,
and provide direct and efficient access to markets. These interventions
have resulted in increased coffee
production, ownership of the value
chain and higher incomes for project beneficiaries. However, due to
unequal gender relations within the
households, mainly resulting from
unequal power relations between
men and women, this additional income has not meaningfully resulted
in household development for the
benefit of the entire family.
Although women provide most of
the labour in coffee production,
marketing is carried out by the men
and the proceeds remain strictly under their control. They independently
decide how and on what to spend
the income. Generally, women are
not even informed of how much was
earned from coffee sales. In some
cases, where married women have
been given coffee trees to manage
as their own, as soon as the coffee is
sold, the husband intervenes to ensure that this income will be spent on
household needs before his income
is used. A wife to a registered farmer
from Nabumbungu village informed
us that she receives Ush 50,000 per
coffee season from her husband
out of total proceeds of about Ush
1M. She does not know what the
rest of the money is spent on. Most
women cannot know how much
their husbands earn from coffee as
at the time of weighing they are not
allowed to approach the weighing
scale.In addition to this, they have
no information about the price.
Experience from our project work
revealed that most of the gender in-
terventions in the coffee sector targeted mainly single mothers or widows who generally are
not the ones with a problem as they still have
some level of control over land and proceeds
from the coffee. The problem lies mainly with
married women who are suppressed by their
husbands.
Recognizing this issue as a serious obstacle
to development, a gender mainstreaming
strategy was initiated in April 2010 by HRNS.
The main objective of the strategy was: empowering men and women in coffee growing
households to meaningfully participate in, and
benefit from interventions for equitable and
sustainable development. The strategy started
with inducing changes within HRNS’ own organization first. The organization’s ability was
strengthened to support and practice gender
equality in its own internal functioning, building
capacity for staff members so that they would
have the necessary knowledge and skills to
carry out their work with gender awareness.
With this, a process was started to enable the
organization to contribute more effectively to
gender equality in its programs and projects,
increase the commitment to gender related
topics within the project regions and incorporate a gender perspective in all aspects of
development.
With the support from the Agribusiness Initiative
Trust, HRNS has scaled up the implementation
to reach out to 10.000 farming households.
Couple seminars form the building block in this
household approach and are conducted at
village level. The seminars underline the importance of men and women working closely and
sharing the benefits together. At the end of the
seminar, couples who express commitment
to adhere to the principles of gender equity
in their families are registered as so-called
change agents. Change agents are given
further training and after three months of fol-
A lady giving her point of view in training
low up, they are linked to lead farmers, Farmer
Field School facilitators in their communities are
to begin with community sensitization. To date,
a total of 2.777 farmers (1.052 females, 1.023
males, 88 female youth, 73 male youth) have
benefited from the trainings. Also, more than
424 couples have been registered as change
agents.
Project officers follow up monitoring visits of
change agents at household level. From these
visits, a number of achievements have been
observed: there is a better division of labour in
terms of roles and responsibilities in the households. Men are now in the position to support
the work due in the household, as for instance
by fetching water and collecting firewood.
Also the household decision making patterns
have changed. Some farmers reported that,
before their participation in the trainings, the
men used to control all the money earned
from coffee. However, after the trainings, the
decision making processes have become collective. As a consequence, the standard of living in these homes has improved since women
prioritize expenses on housing, food, health
and education.
Mr. Kiwanuka, one of the participating farmers,
explained: “Before the training, I lost a lot of
coffee. I never involved my wife in the supervision of the workers at the time of picking, and
thereby lost almost two bags every season.
By inviting my wife to contribute, she started
being a big help, the workers were properly
supervised and no coffee got lost“. Now, they
decide together on how the money is utilized
Concluding, HRNS as an
organization has learned a lot
from this strategy design and
implementation promoting
equal empowerment for both
men and women. The
household approach showed
to have been an effective and
non-confrontational way of addressing gender
issues as it empowers all members in a household, and the men do not perceive it as a
threat. It has also
contributed to mitigating other risks in
homesteads for instance HIV/ AIDS and
physical abuse. In view of its huge impact on
families’ livelihood and considering the
significant resources required for this intensive
work HRNS is looking for a way to best scale up
this work.
www.hrnstiftung.org
25
“HEADING OUT WEST-
Explores how the Coffee Prices may be greatly
Over the Mara River assisting the Kenyan Coffee Industry find New Farm land”
T
he Kenyan coffee industry has
over the last decade lost nearly
10% of farm land to real estate
and infrastructure projects.
Over 5,376 acres of farm list in Kiambu
was lost in one year alone for major
housing projects like Tatu City (3000
acres), Thika Greens(1,600 acres) and
Four Ways (776 acres); there has been
huge cause for concern as further
smaller real-estate projects are also
expected to come up.
Drought and poor cultivation methods
have also done little to assist the situation especially when prices are
stabilizing.
Production as a result is expected to fall
to 36,000 tonnes way below the 54,000
tonnes projected according to Coffee
Board of Kenya. At peak in the 1980’s
coffee production stood at 130,000
tonnes of coffee.
However, the prices have boosted the
sectors earnings to 19.9billion Kenya Shillings up from 10 billion in 2009.
This price has not escaped the notice of
farmers in other regions of Kenya outside
the traditional central growing regions of
Kenya especially in the West.
Farmers in Areas like Mt Elgon, West
Pokot, Trans Nzoia, Bomet and other
01
parts of the Rift valley are shifting to coffee farming in pursuit of
higher prices in the international
market. Further interest has seen
a new coffee mill, CMS Limited,
opened in Eldoret while another
is planned for Kericho.
The profits from an acre of a
maize plantation, according to
analysts, are estimated at Kenya
Shs 20,000 but with a similar acreage under coffee the profit can
be five times more.
Over the Mara River
In this blog, our
correspondents report on
the developments within the
Kenyan coffee industry. This
blog takes its name from the
annual wildebeest migration
over the Mara River. Often
called The Greatest Wildlife
Show on Earth, the event
draws visitors from around
the world to watch over
1.5 million wildebeest and
zebra trek against numerous
odds in search of greener
pastures in the race of a
lifetime.
According to the Coffee Research Foundation, new coffee
varieties that were better suited
to the new coffee farming areas
are now paying off with higher
yields, better returns for farmers
and more importantly attracting
more youth to the business.
Similar events are happening
in EAFCA chapters. One example is Rwanda where the price
has motivated more and more
farmers to grow coffee. In the
Rwamagana District after a
protracted period of overlooking
coffee farming due to low prices,
farmers have moved to large
scale Arabica Growing as prices
increased from Rwf 120 to Rwf
300 per kilogramme this season.
In one area alone, 167,000 coffee seedlings were planted in
early October.
drying techniques.
Uganda is also going through a
similar scenario as Anthony Mugoya of Uganda Coffee Farmers Alliance shared during an
interview with the editor. “Most
young people are moving back
from the city to the villages to
farm Coffee because when they
left for town they got a raw deal”
he further added.
In areas of Mityana and
Mubende, where the UCFA is
based, Anthony informed this
magazine that the coffee
seedling demand far out ways
the supply as even the farmers
have seen ability of the commodity to raise household’s
incomes significantly.
In the October – December 2011
issue of this magazine, the Coffee Corner (editorial) strongly advocated for new coffee farming
areas to be found. With Kenya,
as one most of heavily affected
of the EAFCA Chapters by this
real estate boom, taking such
bold long term steps we can all
agree there is lots of hope yet for
the future of this great crop.
The price has further increased
the need to improve the quality
among the growers before sell
through methods such as better
01
AGAINST THE ODDS
The Story of how Ndumberi Coffee Farmers
Over the Mara River Co-operative Society changed its fortunes
T
he typical coffee farmer faces
huge challenges; lack of agricultural credits, high cost of
farm inputs, low coffee payment by the middle man, poor mar-
Mr. Raymond Gitau, Chairman
of the Ndumberi Coffee Farmers
Group Co-op Society gave an
insightful presentation on the their
farmer group.
The Ndumberi Coffee Farmers Cooperatives farmers were no stranger to these day to day challenges and like most the temptation to
leave the soil was overwhelming.
keting strategies, little or no government good will, poor co-operative
management and now more than
ever the increasing threat of climate change.
In November 2011 during the 50th
IACO Conference and Exhibition,
In 2006, they started an ambitious
Program named the Ndumberi
Coffee Rehabilitation Project. In
a partnership with the World Bank
and Solidaridad they worked
exceedingly hard to improve on
the quality and quantity of their
coffee.
The program provided the employees with trainings on good
processing practices from the
Coffee Research Station as well
as on financial management and
information technology.
Good Agricultural Practices were
also enhanced; while structures of
the cooperative coffee processing system were strengthened.
In 2006 UTZ Certification was acquired which was quickly followed
thereafter by Fairtrade Certification in 2008. In 2011, with the assistance of Solidaridad they secured
01
membership at the Eastern African
Fine Coffees Association.
Now nearly half a century old, membership of the Co-operative stands at
2005, up from 462 in 1962. Production
nearly quadrupled from 500,000 to
1,900,000 kgs of cherry in 2008.
As the production grew so did the
quality to premium grades which had
a direct effect on the demand and
more importantly price. Prices paid to
the farmer rose from Kshs 21.15 to Kshs
120 ($1.50).
Farmers where able to receive credit
from lending after receiving certification while the co-operative was able
to build a cupping lab and now also
acquire 3 wet mills.
The theme of the 50th IACO
Meeting was “Renaissance in
Africa; The time is now” and Mr.
Gitau’s presentation was more
than timely.
As Mr. Gitau completed his presentation, smiles went all round
the hall.
One can only hope that we can
have a few more farmer groups
over the next 3 years holding
a microphone pointing at their
presentation saying “Against the
odds, we did it”.
Premiums with the Fairtrade certification, allowed them to construct a
health facility and clean drinking water provisions.
Further rehabilitation was carried out
to the wooden drying tables bring into
being steel drying tables at all of the 3
Wet Mills.
Over the Mara River:
In this blog, our correspondents
report on the developments
within the Kenyan coffee
industry. This blog takes
its name from the annual
wildebeest migration over the
Mara River. Often called The
Greatest Wildlife Show on Earth,
the event draws visitors from
around the world to watch over
1.5 million wildebeest and zebra
trek against numerous odds in
search of greener pastures in
the race of a lifetime.
01
THE FINE RWANDAN ROAST -
Efforts by the Rwanda Government to Construct
A Thousand Hills Coffee Roasting Plant
T
he National Agriculture Export Development Board (NAEB) is set to
establish a coffee roasting plant as
part of the government’s strategy to
raise farmers’ earnings and boost coffee
exports by adding value to the crop.
According to the report in The New Times,
a Rwandese local paper, the Rwf700m
plant will be put up through a Public
Private Partnership (PPP), with Ocir-Café
holding 49 per cent stake in the project
while private operator, Clinton Hunter Development Initiative, will hold 51 per cent
shares.
Alex Kanyankole, the Director General
of NAEB said they are yet to acquire a
construction permit. Real Contractors
has been hired to carryout the construction, which will last between six and eight
months.
“This plant is aimed at the premium end
of the market and will complement other
products in the coffee export chain but it
will be priced higher than our green coffee beans,” Kanyankole said.
Rwanda mainly exports traditional coffee
beans, which currently attracts US$6 per
kilo on the international market, US$14
less than the price of roasted coffee.
About A
Thousand Hills
In this blog, our
correspondents
report on the
developments
with Rwanda.
The blog gets
its name from
Rwanda’s
famed hilly
topography.
30
The plant will have the capacity to roast
3,000 metric tones annually. Rwanda
targets the Middle East, regional markets
and the US for her roasted coffee exports.
This year, government targets US $60m
from coffee exports, up from US $47m last
year.
“The plant will positively impact the community by raising personal incomes and
accelerating economic growth,” Kanyankole said.
Currently, coffee roasters include, Bourbon, Ocir Café and Nkubiri Enterprise that
roast between 10 and 20 metric tonnes
per year.
Innocent Uwimana, Director of Clinton
Hunter Development in Rwanda said the
planned coffee roasting plant suits the
objective of foundation to improve lives
through business.
“The income to be generated from
the plant is expected to improve lives
through price bonuses to coffee farmers,” Uwimana said.
Jean Bosco Seminega, the Executive
Secretary of Coffee Association Board
said that the roasting plant is an additional market for local produce.
“Our clients are still interested in fresh
green coffee but the plant is a good
opportunity for our product,” Seminega
said.
The association operates with different
coffee exporters including cooperatives
and individuals exporting between 18
and 20 tonnes per year.
He however, cautioned that roasted
coffee would be old by the time it hits
the market if shipped unless there is flight
cargo.
Meanwhile, Nestle International has also
expressed interest in setting up a plant
and studies to determine the type of
plant and the sector of operations are
ongoing.
Nestle also manufactures powdered and
liquid milk, malted drinks, instant foods,
and chocolate.
In a bid to improve exports, the government designed the National Export
Promotion Strategy which was adopted
this year to mobilise stakeholders to accelerate export growth.
The strategy also aims at addressing bottlenecks to make local products more
competitive both locally and for export.
Coffee is among the priority traditional
sectors for the next five years. Others
include tea, tourism and mining as well
as emerging non-traditional export sectors of horticulture and business process
outsourcing.
Sokoni
COFFEE KATANA:
The Samurai Comes to Africa
A
s the Spartans evoke feelings
of a great Ancient Greek era,
the Samurai awake images of
Japanese swords men wielding their famous curved Katana blades
in service to the Emperor with a quick
and deadly accuracy.
One of the Greatest Japanese image
exports to the world, the Samurai are
still seen as one of the world’s most
elite military forces whose teachings
can still be found today in both everyday life and in modern martial arts
such as Kendō.
One particular Manga (Japanese
styled Comics or Cartoon) Samurai
X with its famous star Kenshin Rurouni
gained international appeal in the late
90s that continued to further this image
of a brave, loyal and wise Samurai with
his curved sword protecting the innocent and dueling evil.
The Katana, commonly known as the
samurai sword, is characterised by
its distinctive appearance: a curved,
slender, single edged blade, circular or
squared guard, with a long grip to accommodate two hands.
The intricacy and detail poured into
designing the perfect sword would require the blend of the perfect materials and artistry on the Blacksmiths part.
Poor storage & maintenance would
also lead to the katana to
become irreparably damaged.
Fast forward the centuries and this
appreciation for quality and artisanship is still very much a figure of Japanese culture; one that extends even to
their love of good coffee.
The past two years have seen
increasing interest in Coffees from the
African Origin by Japanese Coffee
Stakeholders.
Imports of Coffee from Africa grew by
4,721,141 kgs from 17,333,059 kgs to
22,054,200 kgs in 2010. While this only
31
represented a 1% shift in the market
share of international coffees in the
Japanese market (6%) it is notable.
One of the reasons for this is for 2
years coffee from Africa had fluctuated at the 17 million kilogram mark
due to the issue of agrochemical
residues in
Ethiopia.
However as these issues have mellowed down and Ethiopia has once
again increased its exports to Japan, imports from Rwanda, Tanzania and Malawi have increased
steady. (Tanzania
coffees have traditionally like the
Ethiopian Coffees been a particular
favorite of the Japanese)
These three countries give rise to
the second reason why the 1% is
worth noting; there is an increasing
appreciation by Japanese coffee
drinkers of Fine African Coffees.
Robinah Uwera, an official in
charge of Coffee Marketing at
Rwanda’s NAEB in a recent interview with the press highlighted the
increasing interest in the Rwandese
Coffees during the 2011 Specialty
Coffee Association of Japan Conference & Exhibition.
Sokoni:
In this blog, our
correspondents
report on the
developments
within the Local
Coffee Markets
and Trade Floors.
This blog takes
its name, Sokoni,
from its local
Swahili meaning;
In the Markets.
In the same interview with the New
Times she expressed that 3 stakeholders would be visiting Rwanda
next May.
The Eastern African Fine Coffees
Association in Partnership with the
Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) organized a study trip
where it took top traders and quality experts from 6 of its chapters to
market, trade and showcase the
intrinsic tastes of each of their cof-
fees. This trip arose largely due to
the increasing need by Japanese
Coffee traders to directly meet
with chapter stakeholders/representative, discuss and disseminate
industry knowledge whilst building
networks.
What was very clear from the trip
were two things; African Coffees
are not well known in Japan and
the Japanese have a huge appetite for award winning coffees,
something Fine African Coffees
can easily achieve.
Currently Japanese companies
purchase significant portions of
auctioned coffee. In the case of
“Cup of Excellence Rwanda” auction, in 2010, out of 22 lots, 13 were
purchased by Japanese
while in 2011, out of 36 lots, 10 were
purchased by Japanese.
They have also strongly promoted
Taste of Harvest with plans of sending top cuppers to participate in
each of the 10 regional events over
the period of the 2011-2012 year.
This magazine insists that this growing interest must not be allowed
to wane. Their purchasing Power
is very strong. As Blacksmiths, local
EAFCA Chapter Stakeholders must
ensure that every time the Samurai
walks in to his workshop, we guarantee him the high quality “CoffeeKatana”.
Like in popular Manga Cartoons,
Kenshin and many a great samurai traveled for miles to make that
journey in search of a great blacksmith… the recent trips to Africa
might suggest they have found a
few.
Did You Know?
KEnshin (Samurai X) as manga comic and cartoon character highlights end of Edo period. This period is also
recognized as the end of Samurai and beginning of Westernization. Naturally some Japanese feel some kind of nostalgia.
Since this is also the time coffee drinking culture entered into “closed” Japan, some companies produce their branded
coffee with end of Edo image (such as Samurai, Shogun and castles.)
32
Sokoni
THE LAW OF AVERAGES
The Revamped Africa Taste of Harvest
Competition
T
he Scene: An Upcountry
Secondary School in Uganda
The Speaker: A New Headmaster
with a peculiar love for green suits
and a knack for telling stories
The Audience: A nervous wreck of young
boys and girls with Final Exams due in
three weeks.
Subject: The Law of Averages
His Speech (Paraphrased):
“In life, you can choose to excel or you
can choose to settle (be average). Average attendance and reading in class
means average grades. Average grades
mean you can get an average school.”
Not so bad… yet.
“Average schools, means you meet average peers, go to average universities and
it is doubtful if you weren’t an average
sports man, musician or artist. This means
you will most likely get an average job.
Later, you may get an average girlfriend
or boyfriend who may become the average wife or husband and simple math
tells us that with the product of two averages… well, most probably will be average kids.”
The Effect of the Speech: A 90% pass rate
in the national exams for the Schools Alevel Class of 1999.
In 2010, the Eastern Africa Fine Coffees
Association reviewed its 5 year Regional
Strategy with particular focus on the
African Taste of Harvest Competitions.
The competition that seeks to find the
“Excellent” coffees and their producers
has come a long way in marketing fine
coffees from the Region and securing a
premium price.
The Taste of Harvest (ToH) program is
the only annual cupping training and
competition held in Eastern and Southern Africa and has become the premier
event in nine member countries, and
plans to begin in the newest member,
Democratic Republic of Congo.
Its purpose is to identify the “best of the
best” or the “Excellent” in a competition among the fine coffees in Eastern
Africa. Currently, EAFCA holds an annual country-specific, National Taste of
Harvest competition to determine the
best domestic coffee samples within
each country to submit to regional and
international marketing events and the
Trading Floor event held annually at the
African Fine Coffee Conference and
Exhibition.
A mandatory judge’s calibration of the
best cuppers is held one day before the
TOH. This also serves as a refresher training for them as they prepare to judge
the TOH coffee samples to ensure that
we have the best judges for the TOH
event.
33
Each sample sent in must be
representative of an exportable
lot that is a minimum of 10 bags
maximum 1 container. The sample size requested is 5kg of clean
specialty grade coffee in green
form.
The ToH competition uses the
Specialty Coffee Association
of America (SCAA) internationally recognized cupping form
to evaluate the coffees, unless
otherwise indicated. The ten
characteristics evaluated are
namely; Fragrance / Aroma,
Flavor, Aftertaste, Acidity, Body,
Uniformity, Balance, Clean cup,
Sweetness, and Overall cupper
score.
Sokoni
In this blog, our
correspondents report on
the developments within
the Local Coffee Markets
and Trade Floors. This
blog takes its name,
Sokoni, from its local
Swahili meaning; In the
Markets.
The 5 coffees with the highest
score from each country are
highlighted at the annual EAFCA
African Fine Coffee Conference
& Exhibition (AFCCE) cupping
pavilion, and offered for tasting
to all conference and exhibition
attendees throughout the conference period. A special coffee
cupping activity is conducted
specifically for buyers that are
attending the EAFCA conference with the intent for the buyers to taste and evaluate these
TOH winners from each country.
Unique Opportunity
Producers have a unique opportunity with this Competition.
In scoring over 80 points they get
to significantly highlight themselves as fine coffee producers
strengthening their chapter or
company brand and more importantly fetch premium prices
for their coffees.
The buyers on the other hand
are granted full access to some
of the regions top notch coffees
season after season.
“Excellent coffee”, means “excellent prices” for everyone in
the value chain which is what
the Taste of Harvest Competition hopes to achieve because
in the end, nobody wants to just
settle for the “average bean.”
“A Cupper’s Dream”
15th - 18th February, 2012
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
01
Beans From The Pearl
WHEN THE BANKS
went Down-town
D
own town, where everybody will be congregating” a catchy chorus to
a popular Lilo Thomas
song from the late 80’s must be
the ring tone of most banking
CEOs in Uganda.
About Beans From The
Pearl:
In this blog, our correspondents report on
the developments with
Uganda, better known
famously by the name
given to it by Sir Winston
Churchill - “The Pearl of
Africa”
Walking down Nabugabo Street
one may easily first notice the
dust, dirt and noise that makes
this corridor leading up to the
Old Taxi Park in Kampala; be
quick to skim over the surface
and pray to God you are out of
there soon.
However, to the attentive eye
there lies a deeper story, an
ability to read between the lines
and more importantly an understanding that not everyone sees
what you see.
There are 9 banks as you walk
down this street. 9 not 2 or 3 but
9 banks on either side of the
short distance. Like a legendary
heavy weight boxing match in
mystical Congo, they face each
other almost tauntingly as they
bustle with activity. To the right
you have Fina Bank, Tropical
Bank, Barclays, Crane Bank. To
left stand Globe Trust Bank, Stanbic, Cairo, Bank of Africa and
Commercial Bank Lending to Resident Private Sector in Uganda over a
4 & 1/2 period Billions of Shillings(UGX):
Dec-07
Dec-08
Dec-09
Dec-10
Jul-11
Other Loans/shgs loans to resident private sector
1,642.86
2,505.40
3143.35
3957.66
4648.92
Forex lending to resident private sector
496.63
871.80
834.48
1472.49
1866.96
Bank of Uganda Monetary Statistics
35
DFCU Bank.
This is one of several ventricles
and arteries that lead up to the
Taxi Park: Heartbeat of Kampala,
a fact that has not escaped the
attention of the banks. Here lies
the beat to a drum that drives
the entrepreneurial spirit of
many.
The number of banks in Uganda
has grown significantly over
the last 10 years and more so
in the last 5. As the banks have
become swift to move in, they
have also been equally wise to
realize that the small and medium sized enterprises that make
up huge percentage of trade
nationally are the future.
Benefits to the Consumer
and the Local Coffee
Stakeholders
These are more than obvious.
More banks mean competitive
services and rates. Products are
becoming increasingly tailormade for the consumer. Even
the traditional banks that had
applied the universal principle
of “one size fits all” have understood that in life there are
variables and one customer’s
concerns are different from another’s concerns.
36
However, banks will still be banks
hence in most cases remain
very risk averse, something fortunately a little work and discussions can solve with a clearer
understanding of banking “mentality” by the clients. Knowledge
dissemination and fact finding
are also great ways to break this
wall.
Even now during the Economic
crisis that has affected Uganda
and the rest of the world; the
banking sectors still remain
strong (despite an unnerving
28% interest rate on loans as
this issue went to press) and so
does their willingness to work
with small and medium sized
enterprises. The clouded judgment that business is merely a
set of formulas and equations
that must all add up is becoming clear.
The cut throat
competition further means that
Banks must work
exceedingly hard to keep their
clients happy and turn a profit.
Local Coffee Traders and
Stakeholders have already
begun
sampling the products and
services on the banking shelves
but how they use them is another thing. This willingness to
listen by the banks is one that
should not be taken for granted.
There is bank bonanza downtown and the party is very real.
Clearly this is a tune the
Ugandan Coffee
Players should learn to step to.
Certified VISION 2015
“We face neither East nor West: we face Forward”
T
his famous quote is often used, as
was by its owner Kwame Nkrumah, to illustrate the strength
of mind and focus needed by
statesmen, businessmen and ordinary
people to look ahead and not be diverted by several petty or wing issues.
At his peak Kwame Nkrumah, or as
he was popularly known in Ghana
as Osagyefo (redeemer in Twi Language), understood that to get his
country moving “forward” he needed
to focus on the bigger picture and
take what was then called a nonaligned position. In simple terms, a
single mindset by all would lead to
a great achievement of a vision of
greater Ghana and Pan-Africanism.
The 21st century has seen more African governments start to think of what
type of future they would like their
citizens to have and more importantly
how to get there, be it vision 2020 in
Rwanda, vision 2025 in Tanzania, NDP
in Uganda, Growth and Transformation Plan in Ethiopia, vision 2030 in
Kenya just to give a few accolades to
EAFCA member countries.
In coffee, a sustainable future is one
that is increasingly pressuring multiple
stakeholders to reduce the environmental and social impacts associated
with coffee consumption in order to
guarantee that there will be a crop 5,
10 and even 15 years from now.
Retailers, manufacturers, suppliers,
governments, NGOs, researchers and
consumers all hold a stake in the sustainability of global coffee production
and use.
Roasters have already made big commitments in their sustainable buying
practices. Figure 1 below shows some
of those commitments in relation to
2009 volumes.
However the industry also realizes
that these commitments cannot be
achieved through individual efforts.
Even the wise waswahilis from the East
African coast discovered many years
ago that one finger does not kill lice
(kidole kimoja hakivunje chawa), it
takes collective effort to overcome
great challenges.
Some of the current collective efforts
include The IDH Coffee Program which
is a public-private cooperation involving the coffee industry, trade and
export partners, governments, NGO’s
37
and standard setting organizations. The 4
founding industry participants, Kraft Foods,
Nestlé, Sara Lee and Tchibo, represent an
annual coffee purchase of 36 million bags or
30% of global production. An important focus of the program is to increase production,
yields and export availability of sustainably
grown coffee. Collectively the partners aim
to increase sustainable green coffee sales
from the current 8%.
The ambition is to reach 25% in 2015.
Figure 2 : Sustainable green coffee sales as a portion of global green
coffee exports (metric tons and percentages).in 2009, Shadow graph
displays percentages of individual certifications; magnified graph
displays total sales adjusted for multiple certification).*
Figure 3: Sustainable coffee total share of global coffee production,
2009 (metric tons and percentages). Shadow graph displays
percentages of individual certifications; magnified graph displays
total production adjusted for multiple certification.*
Regionally partners of the Eastern African
Fine Coffees Association (EAFCA) have also
realized the need to look forward in order
to reach higher levels of sustainable coffee
production but again with great challenges.
The CFC/EU/ICO funded “Building Capacity in Coffee Certification and Verification for
Specialty Coffee Farmers in EAFCA Countries”
is based on the realization that one of the
greatest challenges to sustainable coffee
production is lack of local capacity. It hopes
to register 25% increase in regional coffee
exports that are certified / verified by end of
the project
Many other stakeholders run numerous
efforts to get farmers there. Seeing that the
world today is at 17% sustainable production
(see figure 2) and 8-10% sustainable sale see
figure 3, are we visionary to see the world at
25% sustainable sale by 2015?
Are producers well equipped to meet the
challenges that ensure the 25% sale is attainable or get there much later after the rest of
the world is already there?
Data shows that out of the 17% minute sums
of that comes from Africa. Figure 4 But on
sustainability we are important because we
have the land available and lower production per available land but to be the next
frontier sustainability and effectiveness go
hand in hand.
Unfortunately on a state visit to China & Vietnam in 1966, Kwame Nkrumah was deposed
and had left his country in a $1 billion dollar
debt. Many historians sadly feel that as one
of Africa’s great statesmen, he forgot how to
“face forward”.
This quote is however one of his most enduring legacies and its message still speaks as
clear as a bell. “Facing forward” will need all
the key stakeholders, no matter how great, to
not to just plan the strategy to get there but
effectively monitor and continuously review
its efforts in achieving its Vision 2015.
* State of Sustainability Initiatives: Review 2010
About Certified.
Figure 4 : Regional distribution of coffee supply by production
system, 2008-2009.*
38
In this blog, our
correspondents report on
the developments within
Sustainable Certification and
Verification Industry in the
EAFCA Region.
Under the Hood
MECHANICAL SIPHONS, PULPING
TECHNOLOGY & FLEXIBILITY
C
offee quality requirements are constantly
pushing technology into
new directions. Whereas
the separation of unripe/
green cherries has sufficed in the recent past, problems with astringency
now require that only 100% ripe cherries be pulped. This means that it is no
longer acceptable to pulp slightly unripe / not fully ripe cherries to prepare
a top class coffee that is free from
the astringency imparted to the cup
by the slightest hint of unripeness.
Siphon tanks have been traditionally
used as the first step in wet milling,
to separate partially dry and defective cherries that float from the higher
density ripe and unripe cherries that
sink. Currently there exists mechanical
washers that started to replace siphon tanks in wet milling not only because they save water and labor but
also because they are more selective
than the tanks. Over ripe cherries that
may transfer a fermented taste to the
cup can often be separated from the
ripe cherries with the help of the fine
adjustments available in mechanical
washers and separators.
Mechanical siphons have become
a major need in modern, environmentally friendly wet mills even when
selective harvesting is nearly perfect.
In addition to over ripe cherries that
are usually mixed with ripe ones,
mechanical siphons separate ripe
cherries that appear visually sound
but contain malformed and defective beans. Mechanical siphons gain
even greater importance in an era
when the quality of harvesting is deteriorating due to scarcity and rising
costs of labor. Less selective harvesting requires more efficient separation of the cherries that arrive at the
wet mill with an increasing range of
degrees of maturation from unripe
to over ripe. Mechanical siphons
perform the first separation and ensure that “light” (less dense) materials
do not go on to the pulping stage.
Mechanical siphons are becoming
essential as the selectivity of harvesting is falling and where if needed the
mechanical siphons example one
offered by Pinhalense as viewed in
Fairview Farm Kiambu Kenya and
in Burka Estate Tanzania can be
equipped with cleaning accessories
that separate leaves twigs and other
impurities that are likely to be brought
in with the cherries when harvesting
becomes less selective.
Mechanical siphons are also recommended and used for the on farm
processing of natural coffees, be they
Arabicas or Robustas and can make
major contribution to the quality of
both natural Arabicas, in countries
like Ethiopia and natural Robustas
elsewhere, given that robustas are
predominantly processed by the dry
method.
39
The harvesting techniques used to produce
natural coffees often bring in a wide array
of cherries, from fully unripe to the ones that
have undergone substantial drying on the
tree. Such cherries have moisture levels in
the range of 30-60%. Mechanical siphons
separate these cherries into two groups, according to their density and moisture content so that they can be dried separately.
This procedure has cost and quality advantages. Drying separately cherries with different moisture contents yield a higher quality,
more homogenous product, without the risk
of over drying the lower moisture cherries
and under drying the higher moisture wetter cherries.
A good wet milling line should be able to
offer damage free pulping; the ability to
set apart fully ripe, partially ripe and unripe
cherries that may be pulped separately; It
should be a system able to pulp under-ripe
and over ripe cherries to maximize their value and have a unique approach to gradual removal of mucilage to control body and
sweetness OR where needed by-passing of
the mechanical demucilager.
The Ecological pulping concept allows
clients to put together their wet processing
line according to their own specific needs.
The Pinhalense Ecoflex system 2 ton/hr as
viewed in Kabngetuny FCS in Kenya can
be adapted to every client requirement by
allowing users to create complete mills or to
add pieces of equipment such as mechanical siphons, pulpers with green cherry separators and/or mucilage removers to their
existing lines whenever such need arises. It
is evident that the more complete the line
is the better the possibilities are to obtain a
higher quality final product.
If every coffee farm or coffee “block” is
different and if the mix of cherries reaching
wet mills today changes from farm to farm
or from block to block due to lack of labour
and different harvesting strategies, why
should growers and millers rely on a fixed
design, one type-fits-all wet mills?
If in today’s sophisticated market there
are clients who require different qualities
40
of washed coffee that result from different
wet milling techniques and approaches,
why shouldn’t growers and millers rely on
tailored wet milling solutions that meet
their requirements no matter now specific
they are? A tailored solution was viewed at
KOFINAF- Mtaro Estate plant where another
PINHALENSE line provided the following flexibilities;
»
Enabled the processor to get as
much quality parchment as possible out of
their cherries, no matter how mixed these
cherries arrived at the mill;
»»
Have different parchment qualities
separated according to the degree of
cherry maturation and sizes,
»»
Have flexible approach to mucilage
removal (fermentation or mechanical or
both);
»»
Remove all mucilage or leave some
behind according to the cup profile required;
»»
Eliminate typical wet milling defects:
pulper cuts, bruises, broken beans, hulled
beans, etc.
»»
Avoid pulp mixed with parchment;
»»
Avoid the loss of parchment with pulp
and low water consumption.
The result of this flexible approach is higher
income and greater profits for coffee growers and wet millers.
About Under the Hood
In this blog, our
correspondents report on the
developments and latest
technologies within coffee
machinery industry. The Blog
takes its name from English
expression “under the hood”
that is associated with world
of car sales where a car buyer
would check under the bonnet
to see what the engine looked
like before they bought it.
“BETTER TIMES AHEAD
Mosi-oa-Tunya FOR THE ZAMBIAN COFFEE INDUSTRY”
S
aid Teija Lublinkhof, chairperson
of the Zambia Coffee Growers
Association, quoted in a report in
“How we made it in Africa”.
Her confidence in the world’s
continued demand for its caffeine fix is
however not reflective of the fortunes of
the Zambian coffee business in recent
times.
Zambia’s coffee industry has struggled
over the last five years. Output in 2010
fell to 1,250 tonnes from 1,643 tonnes
the previous year. This was due to farm
closures caused by a lack of affordable
long-term finance.
For the season that just ended,
exportable production tumbled from
a projected figure of 2,200 tonnes of
clean beans to just 736 tonnes.
About Mosi-oaTunya
In this blog, our
correspondents
report on the
developments
within the
Zambian coffee
industry. The
blog takes its
local name
Mosi-oa-Tunya
meaning “the
smoke that
thunders” from
worlds largest
& renowned
waterfall,
Victoria Falls.
But better times might be ahead. Earlier
this year, the Zambian government
invested US$4 million in the Northern
Coffee Corporation, formerly known as
the Kasama Coffee Company.
At its peak in 2004, the Kasama coffee
plantation produced one-third of
Zambia’s 6,000 tonnes output that year.
The re-branded company will be
managed by an independent team
and is expected to employ more than
100 people. Production will commence
in 2014.
In an interview with “How we made it
in Africa’s” correspondent in Lusaka,
Lublinkhof said that the revival of the
plantation would bring hope to the
industry. She added that the Northern
Coffee Corporation is planning to
plant over 500 hectares of coffee,
with the first 200 hectares going in by
September 2012.
“We envisage that [this year’s] 736
tonnes is the lowest level the industry
will ever get to and that from this
season onwards the industry will
begin to experience increased
production,” she said.
Lublinkhof added that the investment
in the Northern Coffee Corporation
will boost the morale of Zambian
coffee farmers as well as contribute
to the economy of the northern
region of the country.
“We hope and trust that with
government being one of the major
stakeholders in the coffee industry in
Zambia, we shall have more doors
opened for us as we continue to
knock, seeking assistance on behalf
of the industry,” she noted.
Commenting on the world coffee
market, Lublinkhof observed that the
past season had been firm with the
average price rising to an all time
high.
She said indications are that
the market would remain firm in
2011/2012 season.
“I would like to encourage [farmers]
to continue to be in the coffee
business, not only because the
market is right just now, but because
it is actually good business as long as
one does it the right way.”
41
Beans From The Pearl
A MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE Raising a Case for Increased
Research Support in Uganda
about 20 million bags against Uganda’s 2.8m bags.
The enviable position has been greatly
compromised by, among other things,
the Coffee Wilt Disease (CWD) which
attached the crop in the early 90’s.
Even today, the disease still afflicts the
crop.
As young couples, most people
realize that love plays a huge
part in who they chose to be their
marriage partners. However, there
is one factor that pays an even
larger role, convenience.
Couples who have mutual interests usually tend to gravitate
towards a much richer and interesting relationship. Both may feel
the need for a huge number of
children, be interested in traveling
or one may be great at cooking;
a quality that often persuades
men to get down on one knee.
Whatever the reason, the chances of the advancement of either
partner may lie in the ability to see
their partner as a stepping stone
to the next level personally, socially or economically.
42
In Uganda there has been a long
awaited union; between the
Research and National Coffee
Stakeholders.
In the early 1990’s, Uganda was
producing 3.14m bags of coffee
a year above Vietnam’s 3.02m
bags. Vietnam now produces
By 2009, the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) reported that
the disease had reduced the countries
Robusta Coffee Plantations by 50% or
150 million trees, which has cost Uganda, an estimated $500 million over the
past decade.
The disease, is caused by a fungus,
Fusarium xylariodes, and is a major
problem for coffee farmers in Uganda,
Tanzania, Ethiopia and the Democratic
Republic of Congo
Currently Uganda’s farmers demand
200 million plantlets to boost coffee
output in the next 5 or so years. Should
this request be met, output could
reach 4 million bags by 2015. The Coffee Research Centre (COREC), in
Kituza, Uganda has the capacity to
raise enough coffee wilt resistant plantlets but is operating at just 10% due to
financial constraints.
In a study carried out by the Africa
Coffee Academy and presented at
the 7th quarterly UCTF breakfast (on
the theme Paper on coffee yield,
productivity and production in
Uganda), Uganda’s annually spending on research is currently $200,000
Key Area
Annual production in Metric Tons
Tanzania
68
4
3,000,000
4,000,000
3,500,000
200,000
47,000
50,000
280,000
200,000
5%
20%
70%
25%
146,200,000
112,000,000
525,200,000
338,400,000
According to Dr Africano Kangire,
the head of COREC, the centre is
using conventional and tissue culture (biotechnology) methods to
multiply the seven CWD resistant
clones, unfortunately it is slower
when the conventional way is followed. Currently, through conventional means, the centre can only
generate 100 plantlets (CWD Kituza
R1 – 7) per year from each seedling
as opposed to the tissue culture
multiplication from which more than
3,000 plantlets can be generated
per leaf.
In this blog, our
correspondents
report on the
developments
with Uganda,
better known
famously by
the name given
to it by
Sir Winston
Churchill “The Pearl of
Africa”
Uganda
27
Several varieties were released
through the Variety Release Committee (VRC) in 2009; few however
have been multiplied and distributed to the coffee nursery operators.
About Beans
from the Pearl
Ethiopia
31
Export Revenue Share
Receipts in US$
Source: Africa Coffee Academy
See Graph Below;
Kenya
Number of Technical Staff
Annual Budget
as opposed to yearly import receipts
of 338,400,000 US dollars.
Amazingly, 20 leaves from a single
plant could yield 60,000 plantlets
from one seedling a year! With
funding, the centre would be able
to get enough “foundation seed” of
up to 4000 mother gardens.
From these each parish (village)
would have a mother garden of
their own for distribution.
There has been a national call for
increased concerted efforts to
boost support for the coffee research in the country both by the
direct stakeholders and in the media. Farmers clearly need to be supported with improved disease varieties and also equipped with modern
farming techniques to enable them
to produce improved yields.
The new varieties need to be multiplied faster. Currently the average
Ugandan farmer produces 600kg per
hectare, an output way below the
Vietnam 2000 kg per hectare. This
has inclined farmers to divert their
attention to more profitable crops increasingly shoving coffee to the side.
Clearly the actual players in the field
and coffee research urgently need
to start working together.
The convenience of this “marriage”
will clearly benefit both parties and
the courtship has gone on long
enough. Increased support will naturally mean increased productivity by
the research institutions.
Fortunately the hints and whispers
from the caffeine grapevine is we
may be hearing a few “I dos” soon
and this magazine which advocates
for a sustainable future of Fine African Coffees sector hopes to live to
meet the grandchildren of this union.
43
The Heart Warming
Cup from the Warm
Heart of Africa
TAKING THE PLUNGE…
A look into the forward vertical integration
of the Malawi coffee industry,
and its’ current domestic consumption.
T
he Malawian coffee
industry displays a
uniqueness in a number
of ways over other African
coffee producing nations,
both in terms of the make up
of coffee producers and also in
terms of the prevalent (or lack of )
coffee-drinking culture.
Primarily, for example, the
country’s production is split into
two types of coffee production,
which co-incidentally are also
geographically split. In the
north coffee production is
predominantly made up of small
holder production all of which
is operated as a growers’ cooperative union, whereas in the
south all production is estate
based. Most of these producers
not only grow, wet process and
dry process their own coffee but
also package and export their
own coffees as well. In addition
save for two independent roasters
all local roasting, grinding and
packaging is conducted in-house
by the same producers. Thus,
ownership of the coffee value
chain is primarily in the hands of
the coffee producers.
In the last 10 years Malawi has
grown in leaps and bounds
with regard to improving
coffee quality and developing
diverse, effective and improved
marketing opportunities worldwide for green bean exports,
thanks to efforts by the USAID,
Sales Program, and continued
annual collaborations and
trainings with EAFCA and
CQI. And whilst disease and
44
deterioration of the seed gene
pool, amongst a host of other
limitations, need to be addressed
to improve yields and increase
production – the local domestic
market has been somewhat
neglected or perhaps more
realistically overlooked by the
coffee industry together with the
hospitality sector.
The entire coffee industry
is regulated by the Coffee
Association of Malawi, which
represents all 13 coffee producing
organisations in Malawi including
smallholders and estate growers.
Current estimates for the 2010
crop for the country are 1700 MT
of green bean, of which around
37 MT is expected to be sold on
the roast and ground market.
This represents a little less than 2%
of the total coffee production.
Otherwise the majority of
Malawian coffee exports (all
green bean) are sold into the
high-volume market segment
particularly to South African
buyers, with the majority being
sold to specialty buyers in the
United States, Japan and Europe;
whereas coffee sold locally mainly
goes to retail shops, restaurants,
hotels and lodges in the form of a
fresh roast and ground offering.
As can be seen from the above
production figures Malawi is and
has never been a large producer
of coffee (although historically
figures were much higher) in
world-wide terms, and as such
has not developed into the full-scale
manufacture of roast and ground
coffees, nor has there ever been any
intent to develop further into instant
coffee production. Coupled with this
is the fact that the drinking of coffee in
Malawi has not been a local tradition,
unlike in other African countries like
Eritrea or Ethiopia. Malawians are
traditional tea drinkers due to the
historical and cultural influence of
prior British colonial rule, and as a
result of this Malawi is a significant tea
producer. This is besides the fact that
coffee as a crop was in fact planted in
Malawi prior to tea.
It therefore
comes as
no surprise
that local
consumption
is dominated
by imported
instant coffee.
This applies
for institutional
consumption,
in-house
consumption
and
consumption
in hotels,
restaurants
and lodges.
Apart from the
reasons given
above, further
cause for the dominance of instant
coffee is that it is easy to prepare,
easy to store and it can be kept for
a long time, as opposed to roast and
ground coffee. Drinking instant coffee
is also a matter of accessibility and
availability, where many places, such
as hotels, restaurants, lodges, bars,
government institutions, companies
and organizations offer only instant
coffee.
The sole production of roast and
ground coffee as the only local
alternative, means that consumers
are limited as a result of the fact that
roast and ground coffee can
only be brewed effectively
through the use of some form
of filtration machinery; either,
a plunger, coffee machine
or espresso machine. All of
these are relatively expensive
items for a local household
to purchase; in addition even
simple plungers are not readily
available, locally.
The predominant market in
coffee consumption is the
out-of-house market, where
the hospitality sector plays a
major role. Thankfully, there
is a slow but growing trend
in the hospitality sector to
improve and explore further
options in providing a more
comprehensive non-alcoholic
hot beverage offering, in
particular the coffee menu.
This will enable better service,
delivery, and choice of the
coffee offering to consumers
which will significantly help in
promoting local consumption.
In conjunction with this and
from a consumer point-ofview the global trend into
espresso based coffees is
starting to permeate the minds
of consumers and more and
more these coffee offerings
are being demanded, again
this can only promote the local
consumption of coffee.
Nonetheless, given all the
constraints, limitations and
challenges faced in the
domestic market the local
demand for fresh roasted
coffee is growing and
local consumers are being
awakened to its’ benefits and
more and more are seeking
locally made produce.
As a result, current local
producers have made big
strides in the recent past into
the local coffee market and
45
have even surpassed well known
instant coffees in their demand.
The number of producers involved
in the local coffee market has
increased from one to four
producers over the last five years,
with a consequent increase of
independent roasters from one to
three.
Local producers are beginning
to realise the benefit of brand
ownership “Mzuzu Coffee” in
particular has done a great job
of branding their product, both
nationally and internationally.
Other benefits such as value
added as a result of offering a
finished product unlike the green
bean are also now being realized.
Figures from one producer this
year compare as follows: average
green bean exports FOT Malawi
US$ 5.30 / kilogram; average
price for Roast & Ground Coffee
US$ 11.00 / kilogram. This clearly
illustrates the benefit in terms of
value added to the producer and
equates to a price per kilogram of
over double what is being offered
internationally for green bean.
About The Heart
Warming Cup from the
Warm Heart of Africa
In this blog, our
correspondents report
on the developments
within the Malawian
coffee industry.This
blog takes its name
from the beaming
smiles and genuine,
disarming warmth
extended to anyone
that has the pleasure
of visiting Malawi.
46
On top of this the local coffee
market provides un-rivalled price
stability in comparison to volatile
international coffee prices that
are determined by movements in
the major stock exchanges, which
even though prices have been
buoyant recently – provides no
price security. There is also a lack
of differentiation in coffee offerings
sold locally which means that there
is great opportunity for further
development and expansion into
other product offerings.
Currently, the simple plunger
offering in the hospitality sector
is under-utilised and has huge
potential for expansion, as a
result of the fact that it is simple;
quick; easy to prepare; requires
basic non-expensive equipment;
and if prepared correctly can
provide the customer with an
unparalleled coffee experience
in terms of flavour, freshness and
body of the coffee. There is also
a clear competitive advantage in
pricing for the roast and ground
offering when compared
to imported instant coffee,
especially seeing as Malawi is a
land-locked country.
It is fair to say that the roast
and ground domestic market
in Malawi is alive and growing,
but that a huge amount of
effort and training is required,
to further grow and sustain
this domestic market in terms
of better service delivery
and product integrity. The
growth and sustainability of
this market is nonetheless
realistically achievable via
constant training, revaluation
and development, and through
the implementation of robust
quality control measures from
cherry, to dry parchment, to
green bean, to roasted bean,
to ground and packaged
product, to distribution and
brewing and finally to the
consumer’s coffee cup.
Finally, it is pleasing to note
that in the context of the
domestic Malawian coffee
market “taking the plunge” (in
contrast to its’ usual negative
connotation) has so far been
a positive and flavoursome
experience – may it long
continue!
Written by Robin Saunders for the
Coffee Association of Malawi
10 African Fines Coffees
Conference and Exhibition
th
14 –16 February 2013
th
th
EASTERN AFRICAN FINE
COFFEES ASSOCIATION
Munyonyo Commonwealth Resort, Kampala, Uganda
Uganda: Discover a Diversity of Coffees,
from the Pearl of Africa.
01
Home of the best mountain grown
Ethiopian Arabica Coffee!!
Award winners for the quality of prepared green coffee
The nation’s leading coffee exporter in terms of volume
First company to do 100% Eco-friendly processing
We are always willing to learn from our valued customers
Your next green Coffee Choice!
Mulege Private Limited Company
P.O.Box 12791,
Phone :(251)- 11 - 442 59 37/38
Mobile: (251)-91-120 83 61
Fax: (251)- 11- 442 59 47
Addis Ababa, ETHIOPIA
E-Mail : [email protected]
Website : www.mullege.com
01