Tanzania’s coffee production likely to drop by 23 pct, board declares

The coffee production is projected to dwindle by 23 percent in the 2019-20 season.

Africa's fourth-biggest coffee producer, Tanzania said the overall production in coffee would drop by 23 percent in the next period due to delayed rainfall in northern regions, according to the Tanzania Coffee Board.

The crop for the season that starts in July may decline to 50,000 tons, the Tanzania Coffee Board said Monday in an emailed response to questions. It said last month that the country had experienced dryness in many growing areas, and that farmers would start collecting crops in May in the Kagera and Mara regions, Bloomberg reported.

After missing earlier targets to boost production, the country has said it's considering distributing seedlings to farmers in an effort to double supply in five years. Arabica coffee accounts for more than half of Tanzania's output, and it mainly ships coffee to Japan, Italy, the US and Belgium.

A lower cycle will follow a bumper harvest this season. Auctions for the 2019-20 crop will start in Moshi at the end of July, the board said. As far as the importing of coffee is concerned, Japan is the leading importer of Tanzania's coffee.

The decline in productivity is caused by a number of factors including low applications of fertilisers and poor investment, according to Tanzania Coffee Board's acting director general, Primus Kimaryo. The Tanzania Coffee Industry Development strategy 2011-21 aims at increasing production to 100,000 tonnes annually.

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