Tanzania
The history with coffee production
In the country’s far north-western coffee lands, the Haya people of what is now the Kagera region, bordering Rwanda, and Burundi, cultivated indigenous Robusta. Historically, the coffee berries were boiled and smoked or used as gifts and a form of currency
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In 1868, Spiritan bishops from the French-held island of Réunion, made their way to the central coast city of Tanzania, Bagamoyo, and arrived with Arabica.
The European colonial government attempted to make the region locals (Haya tribe) to produce Arabica as a cash crop. They didn’t like the idea of commercial cultivation and disliked Arabica.
In the early 1890’s, missionaries introduced the idea of commercial Arabica coffee production in Kilimanjaro region, and it was widely accepted. In 1902 the very first Arabica was planted in Moshi and cultivated by the local Chagga ethnic group. This established a local economy that eventually organized into an Arabica auction system, still existing in Moshi today.
In 1918, after world war I, the British occupied German Tanganyika and advanced the coffee production in the regions. In 1925, the introduction of the coffee farmer cooperative and the establishment of the first cooperative, and 400 more by 1950 nationwide.
Coffee, one of Tanzania's largest export crops. More than 90 percent of coffee is produced by some 410,000 smallholders on average plots of 1-2 hectares. Most do not use purchased inputs such as chemicals.
The Tanzania Coffee Board (TCB) Auction held in Moshi, Kilimanjaro, in the far north-Easter part of the country, takes place weekly during the harvest season every year.
Bidders are licensed by the government to participate as exporters to the international market or loose Farmer-Producer Groups (FPGs) farmers would sell their harvest to whomever came to call, without a reliable auction price.
Asante sana .B
