Regional Markets

3 Cases
established communal coffee processing centres and organised trainings for farmers on
methods for improving coffee processing.
Impact of the intervention
Pro-poor development
TechnoServe’s support to coffee production, has improved the position of smallholder coffee
farmers through various actions. Central to the approach is the organisation of farmers
in farmers groups, which are coordinated under umbrella associations like KILICAFE.
Being organised greatly improves the smallholders’ ability to access grants and loans,
secure inputs and quality seeds, and establish connections to relevant stakeholders. The
trainings and demonstration plots have introduced new, more productive agricultural
practices. Through its lobby and networking efforts, TechnoServe has managed to bring
all key national coffee stakeholders on the same table. It has created a space for open
discussion regarding the innovative ways to improve coffee production and increase the
smallholder’s share of the profits. The enhancement of the entrepreneurial capacity and
the business skills of participating small-scale
farmers is central to the approach. The results
speak for themselves. In 2003, KILICAFE
became the first association of coffee growers
from Tanzania to directly export to a
roaster abroad, at a handsome premium 15 for
its members. It went on to sign contracts with
other international buyers (like Starbucks),
with direct export sales in excess of USD
500,000 (TechnoServe 2006).
Our lives have changed so much... The biggest
difference, though, is the confidence
we have in our future and in our children’s
future. God blessed us with the soil and climate
to produce quality coffee. TechnoServe
has shown us how to protect and deliver
that quality to a market that pays good
prices for it. We know the road we’re on and
where it leads.
Cecilia Kapinga (coffee farmer)
Gender
Coffee production involves both men and women, although in different roles. Men are
mainly engaged in pruning, pesticide application, processing and marketing. Women do
the berry picking, processing and weeding. The most fertile plots of land (kihamba) are
handed down as inheritance to the male heirs of the family. The Kilimanjaro region is
one of the most heavily populated areas in Tanzania where the kihamba system of land
inheritance dominates, whereby the men of the family formally provide the women of
the family with land to farm. The unequal distribution of arable and fertile land has
deprived many of a source of livelihood and resulted in selective poverty (in particular
of the middle sons and daughters) (Howard and Millard 1997). In the past, the money
15 Price premium is an extra percentage of the benchmark price, placed on top of the product’s benchmark
price. Often, it is also the extra price people are willing to pay for the specific perceived characteristics of the product
(e.g., brand, quality, environmental impact etc.).
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