malvernmugadzikwa
Word From The Market with Samson Tarusenga
ZIMBABWE is pinning its hopes mainly on the agriculture, mining, tourism and manufacturing sectors to realise the Vision 2030 goal of an upper middle-income economy.
The agriculture sector’s share of gross domestic product (GDP) is targeted to reach US$13,75 billion by 2025 after it grew from US$5,6 billion in 2020 to US$9,9 billion in 2022 (surpassing the initial 2022 target of US$$8,2 billion). While the story of the contribution of different products — including cereals, horticultural crops, tobacco, cotton and livestock — to agriculture’s share of GDP has been told, the contribution of coffee is often not mentioned.
Coffee is one of the most lucrative cash crops in Zimbabwe, along with tobacco and cotton. The country’s Eastern Highlands, regarded as the “coffee belt”, offers an ideal climate for growing high-quality coffee.
Production of the crop occurs primarily in Honde Valley, Manicaland province.
In this region, Chipinge is known for producing high-quality Arabica beans that make up 75 percent of Zimbabwe’s specialty coffee exports.
Other popular regions for coffee production include Chimanimani, Mutasa and Mutare. Coffee was introduced to Zimbabwe in the mid-19th century by British farmers. In the 1960s, commercial farming was introduced, leading to a production boom, which saw Zimbabwean coffee making it to New York and London.
However, climate change and international price fluctuations led to a sharp decline in the industry.
Farmers abandoned coffee production in favour of more short-seasonal crops due to the long, dry spells. The dominant variety in Zimbabwe is the Catimor Arabica bean, which is preferred due to its short maturity period, resistance to diseases and small size that allows for more produce per average farm size. Coffee exports from Africa were valued at US$3,6 billion in 2022, with Ethiopia accounting for US$1,5 billion, followed by Uganda at US$813 million.
At its peak, Zimbabwe’s coffee sector delivered around 15 000 tonnes and contributed about 2 percent to GDP, with employment opportunities available to more than 20 000 people.
While this performance significantly dropped in recent years due to climate change and other factors, there is evidence that coffee has the huge potential to contribute to Zimbabwe’s rural industrialisation and development agenda.
In fact, it is sustaining livelihoods for thousands of families in the eastern districts of Zimbabwe.
The country has one of the best climatic conditions that are suitable for coffee production and also boasts good soils that support the production of sought-after premium quality.
The past couple of years have seen the price of coffee surging to around US$7 per kilogramme (kg), helping the current production recovery trajectory, with output in the smallholder sector rising by 50 percent from 400 tonnes produced in 2021 to around 600 tonnes in 2023.
The coming in of Nespresso in the local coffee value chain has propped up the sector’s fortunes.
The coffee value chain is a low-hanging fruit for unlocking employment opportunities in a number of areas, such as coffee production (farming); engineering and machinery supply (production and sale of washers, pulpers, hullers, conveyors, polishers, irrigation equipment and roasters); washing and processing stations; chemicals (pesticides, herbicides and fungicides); tourism; packaging; and warehousing.
A supportive Government, with its arms in research, extension and parastatals (Agricultural Marketing Authority and Silo Zimbabwe), puts the country on a strong footing to boost growth in the coffee sector.
There is scope to establish stronger working partnerships with producers and producer organisations (farmers’ unions and the Zimbabwe Coffee Mill), civil society organisations and private players (Cairns Foods and Nespresso) and non-governmental organisations (Technoserve).
There is need to inculcate a tradition of family and teamwork between the Government and these other players to ensure that there is significant progress.
It is worth noting that to ensure success of the industry, production must be tied to research to ensure profitability, resilience to climate change and quality output.
If we look at the success of countries such as Brazil, Vietnam, Ethiopia and Uganda, we will appreciate that they have long-term strategies and research programmes.
Zimbabwe, like many other countries, has to confront future challenges, while addressing the social and economic concerns of today by leveraging on research.
There is need to continue finding ways of upscaling the production of clean, resilient planting materials and to expand the area under production.
Research on climate-smart technologies is imperative, as natural calamities such as droughts and cyclones have increased in regularity.
The installation of irrigation facilities on farms, together with adapting and adopting techniques that help conservation and efficient use of available water, is critical.
Knowledge gaps need to be closed by solving the poor linkage between farmer and research services.
It should be applauded that the Government and its partners, among them the Agricultural Marketing Authority (AMA), have embarked on training programmes targeting prospective and existing farmers to increase production of premium-quality coffee that meets the local and international market.
Financial support targeting coffee farmers is crucial to cater for the procurement of inputs, machinery and installation of production infrastructure.
Needless to say, the coffee market is now conscious to demand actions on sustainability, biodiversity conservation and deforestation in coffee value chains.
The call for traceability of products to the place of origin is growing louder, and collective efforts to introspect and adjust to protect our markets are essential.
That said, coffee production plays a significant role in contributing to food security, especially to smallholder farmers, through diversification of incomes.
The revenue generated from selling coffee beans allows farmers to invest in their farms, purchase food supplies and improve their overall livelihoods.
This income stability can contribute significantly to food security by ensuring consistent access to nutritious food for farming communities.
* Samson Tarusenga is acting head of the Chipinge Coffee Research Institute. Word From The Market is a column produced by AMA to promote market-driven production. Feedback: [email protected] or WhatsApp/Call +263781706212.
Online Reporter