Regional Markets

Regional Markets for Local Development
Arabica coffee is a high quality sort that fetches a solid export price. Robusta is processed
locally and marketed nationally at a relatively at low price (Mhando and Mbeyale 2010).
The Kilimanjaro region is one of the more heavily populated areas in Tanzania. In the
Kilimanjaro highlands, coffee is a major cash crop. Usually, the crop is grown in home
gardens where one finds a mix of various food commodities, such as yams, aerial roots,
banana, vegetables, fruits (avocados, orange, and guava), shed trees (source of firewood,
fodders and timber), maize, beans and others. Also animal keeping is widespread (goats,
sheep, cow, chicken, rabbit and pigs), as a much-needed source of cash income, and less
frequently as a source of protein for the local diet. Nevertheless, coffee is the most important
crop, and the well-being of the local population is heavily dependent on the availability
of land for its cultivation, on production volumes and the market producer price.
In 2001, with the help of TechnoServe, local coffee smallholders formed the Association
of Kilimanjaro Specialty Coffee Growers (KILICAFE). This farmer-owned company
provides its members with assistance in the production, handling, financing, marketing
and other necessary phases in the cultivation of quality coffee. The association has been
growing continuously, reaching 9,000 smallholders by 2006 (TechnoServe 2006).
The main stakeholders in the coffee value chain
Of the 400,000 smallholder coffee farmers in Tanzania, around 250,000 reside in
the Kilimanjaro region. After the fall of the international coffee price in 2000, many
farmers abandoned their coffee farms and focused instead on food crops, animals and
off-farm activities. The recovery of coffee prices precipitated their return to this trade;
however, many of the farmers in the area are quite old. Only few youths are interested
in coffee farming, preferring activities like mining, tourism and business instead.
Smallholder production is plagued by several problems, poor processing practices, old
average age of trees, low yields and others. The Kilimanjaro region has the oldest coffee
trees in Tanzania (average age for some areas is even twice the age of trees in the southern
growing regions). The results are lower yields per hectare compared to other regions
and performance far below actual potential (USAID 2010).
Another actor are the suppliers of agro-inputs. Certified private and public suppliers
offer the necessary agro-inputs, such as fertilisers, coffee seedlings and pesticides. The
suppliers have contracts with the coffee cooperatives and deliver inputs on demand.
Their prices are moderate, although some coffee farmers cannot afford even these moderate,
necessary expenditures, which can have severe negative consequences on their
production volumes and income.
In Tanzania, many smallholders are organised in associations of coffee growers, like
KILICAFE, which help provide valuable assistance in production and marketing.
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