In this latest post in our Kilimanjaro Journey series, Paul takes a look at how the harvest is shaping up in Tanzania and the challenges farmers at Kilimanjaro are currently facing.
The harvest in Tanzania has now begun and it’s time for coffee collection! Between now and January individual farmers will hand-pick the red cherries from the bushes, these are the ones which contain the exquisite and high quality coffee beans. Many people don’t know that coffee beans are actually the seed of these beautiful cherries, but this is where it all begins.
According to local authorities, coffee production in Tanzania will fall by 19.6% in 2011-2012 due to drought, which has reduced production in the western, southern and northern coffee growing regions. Nevertheless, our partner KNCU is looking forward to a good harvest and excellent quality due to the hard maintenance work they have done on the field.
KNCU is investing in long-term projects for field rehabilitation, organic farming and quality improvement to tackle the fast growing problem of climate change, and Cafedirect is committed to direct long-term relationships with all our smallholder partners, funding progress through various projects around the globe.
Thankfully the rains started last month and are expected to boost production for 2012-13 and the price of Tanzanian coffee is expected to rise due to high quality coffee now flowing from the season.
Of course, the harvest is merely the first step in order to achieve outstanding quality coffee. Red cherries are gathered and quickly de-pulped, fermented, washed and sun-dried using craftsman methods, which can take up to five days before the coffee is finally ready to be shipped. But let’s not jump ahead of ourselves, I will talk much more about whole process in my next post!
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