Tanzania: Coffee Firm Reassures Tarime Farmers of Continued Support

Mwanza — THOUGH prices on the world market have tumbled, the Managing Director of Mara Coffee Ltd Mr. Christopher Gachuma has assured Tarime farmers that his company would not abandon them.
"I can't run away from you. Tarime is my home and Mara Coffee Ltd (MCL) will continue buying coffee from farmers whether the prices are competitive or not, " Mr Gachuma noted in an exclusive interview with the 'Daily News' in Mwanza. MCL is the leading coffee buying company in the Northern Tarime District and it has received several accolades in the recent years.

Mr Gachuma's remarks came at a time when almost all local coffee-buying firms had called it quits, citing falling of prices on the world market. A kilogramme of Arabica coffee has dropped from about 2,000/- last year to 800/- and 700/- this year, a real setback to Tarime farmers. "We are incurring losses though, it seems that the problem has no local solution" Mr Gachuma, a prominent businessman in the lake region said.
MCL, he said, will continue supporting on-going initiatives to revive and speed up development of coffee farming in Tarime, a district widely favoured by suitable climate and soil for production of Arabica coffee. MCL has distributed about two million coffee seedlings to hundreds of farmers, free of charge, a move which has greatly helped boost production of the cash crop in the district over the past few years.
The company has further educated more than 3,500 farmers on how best to practice organic farming that is cheaper and free from chemicals during the same period . "When we started buying coffee in Tarime more than 10 years ago production was less than 1,000 tonnes but now it has climbed to about 3,000 tonnes .

This is a good progress and farmers should not be disappointed with the fluctuation of coffee price in the world market. They should strive for quality and high yield", Mr Gachuma insisted. Tarime is the largest producer of Arabica coffee in the lake zone region. Officials estimate that the entire district has more than 8,000 coffee growers.
Tanzania Coffee Board(TCB) and Tanzanian Coffee Research Institute(TaCRI) have in the recent years been closely working hard to boost coffee production in the district that is also notorious for illegal planting of bhang. TaCRI is implementing a special programme to produce new coffee varieties that are resistance to diseases such in some of the lake zone districts, Tarime being one of the key target areas .