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Liberty Dube
Business Correspondent
GOVERNMENT has revealed that a coffee processing plant will be set up in Manicaland to assist coffee producers in the province.
The development has come at a time when coffee production is on the rebound, with the country currently producing about 370 tonnes from around 389 hectares in both small-holder and large-scale plots in Manicaland.
Speaking in a Post-Cabinet Press briefing on Wednesday, Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Senator Monica Mutsvangwa said Government is determined to ensure that people are uplifted out of poverty through various interventions.
“Government will assist farmers in processing and marketing their produce. In particular, coffee producers in Manicaland will be assisted through the setting up of a processing plant, using resources from the Special Drawing Rights facility.
“The Second Republic will continue to ensure that these interventions lift people out of poverty towards the attainment of Vision 2030. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is expected to increase from the current projection of 4 percent to 6 percent on account of the positive performance of the agricultural sector,” she said.
Coffee Research Institute head, Mr Calbe Mahoya, said coffee production is on the rebound in Zimbabwe.
“Since 2010, production has been on an upward trajectory, especially for the small-holder farmers whose production have risen to the current levels. Production is set to rise even further due to Government’s interventions.
“Total production for the country currently stands at around 363 metric tonnes from both small-holder and large-scale farmers from a hectarage of around 389ha,” said Mr Mahoya.
New farmers from as far as Headlands, Karoi, Mhangura and Nyanga are coming into coffee production and the demand for coffee seedlings is outstripping supply.
Production can actually be increased by bringing back all former coffee producing areas into coffee production and opening up new areas.
Coffee used to be grown in different parts of Manicaland, Mashonaland East, Mashonaland Central and Mashonaland West Provinces.
At its peak, the sector employed over 20 000 people and contributed 2,1 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product.
The crop has ready markets in USA, Japan, China, UK, Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, South Africa.
It is a major foreign currency earner for the country since the country exports over 98 percent of its total production.
Coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world after oil, with global retail sales estimated to be US$ 90 billion.
Brazil is the largest world’s coffee producer, followed by Vietnam, Colombia, Indonesia and Ethiopia.
However, all cultivated species originate from Africa.
About 70 percent of the world crop is grown by small-holder farmers on small pieces of land.
Online Reporter