African Fine Coffees Review Special Edition Oct-Dec - EAFCA

The Coffee Partnership for Tanzania (CPT) will substantially
support 85,000 Tanzanian smallholder farmers from 2012 –
2016. “The partnership’s goal is to enable female and male
farmers to take full advantage of the opportunities arising
from the production of coffee and additional products,
helping producers to increase their incomes and improve
their livelihood”, says Ian Lachmund, DEG Project Director
for the partnership. Supported by the Gates Foundation’s
funding, the implementing partners undertake capacitybuilding
measures to promote the empowerment of
smallholder coffee producers within the global coffee value
chain.
The project activities include promotion of the organization
of well-governed farmer groups, training of farmers in
basic business and agronomy skills, improvement of
farmers’ access to finance, and facilitation of producers’
affiliation to certification schemes – thereby increasing the
overall productivity and quality of the coffee production
and meanwhile improving smallholders’ access to stable
export markets. Additional activities in the areas of gender,
seedling multiplication and distribution, renewable energy
as well as livestock and food production further promote the
environmental and social sustainability of the partnership.
DEG manages the overall project based on its far-reaching
experience in development
cooperation with private
partners in the agricultural
sector worldwide and in Africa
in particular. The German
development finance institution
will also coordinate the monitoring
and evaluation process with
external evaluations allowing for
regular feedback from supported
farmers throughout the project’s
tenure. This will allow constant
process and implementation
improvement. Furthermore, results, lessons learnt and best
practices will be shared with the wider stakeholder community.
The mutual long-term interest of the implementing and
strategic partners as well as the lasting effect of smallholder
farmers’ capacity building will ensure a sustainable impact of
the project.
The intended increase of the coffee farmers’ net income will
contribute to poverty reduction, improving the livelihood of up
to 510,000 Tanzanian in rural areas.
The Coffee Partnership for Tanzania is a good example
of innovative partnerships between public, private and
philanthropic partners facilitating and providing investment
to empower smallholder farmers in Africa and throughout the
developing world to overcome poverty and hunger.
“The Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation puts
smallholder farmers’
interests at the center of
their work”, says Dana
Boggess, the foundation’s
Program Officer. “We
are glad to continue
supporting Tanzanian
producers over the next
years in order to help them
improve their productivity
and the quality of the coffee
they produce. We believe the partnership will contribute to
the Tanzanian coffee industry’s growth, while increasing
incomes throughout the coffee value chain, especially those
of smallholder farmers.”
Mohamed S. Muya, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry
for Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives, agrees:
“The partnership’s goals and its planned activities fully
align with the Tanzanian coffee industry’s Development
Strategy that we have formulated in the sector’s Task Force
Committee. The partnership provides a great opportunity
for smallholder farmers and is expected to help us increase
the sector’s overall production volumes over the four year
tenure.”
15