The news from the international market is good but the information from the farms is bad. Whereas countries like Brazil and Vietnam, the World’s leading producers of coffee are making good fortune from the crop, Cameroonian coffee has instead taken a retrogressive dive for the gutters.

The whole trouble seems to have been paradoxically ignited by the complete liberalisation of the sector in 1990.

Production prior to this oscillated between 100,000 to 132,000 metric tons. But liberalisation pulled down the performance to staggering 42,000 to 35,000 metric tons with very little signs of it regaining “consciousness.” A study in view of starting off a five-year development strategy to run from 2010 to 2015 revisits the factors that would have otherwise propelled the country’s production to higher heights. These include: fertile soils and ideal climate, farm expansion possibilities, an active and young population, a long tradition of coffee production and good knowledge of the product by the producers, diverse production with two major species, Robusta and Arabica, good handling services at the port, an intrinsic quality highly appreciated by the international market and faithful customers, notably in Europe.

All these constitute a whole gamut of advantages which unfortunately have been shattered by a network of man-made barriers, ranging from scarcity and high cost of inputs, insufficient seedlings and lack of incentives to insufficient infrastructure, poor techniques and absence of structured producer organisations.

The economic crisis further dampened hopes of rejuvenation, pushing farmers into drastic decisions some of which have had far reaching repercussions. Many angrily cut down coffee plants in favour of fast-yielding food crop. Some who retained their farms had no other alternative. These were indeed trying moments for the sector and needed prompt intervention from government which was itself facing its own share of the crisis. Instead, the sector was abandoned in the hands of the farmers in the name of liberalisation.

Floodgates of Disorder

As nature would have it, this opened up floodgates of disorder with a steady influx of impostors. The aggressive appetite for money produced very undesirable results including a drop in quantity and quality. That notwithstanding, from every indication, the situation could have been different if farmers received expert advise. The idea of destroying coffee farms to plant food crops was caused by ignorance. According to Michael Ndoping, General Manager of the National Cocoa and Coffee Board (NCCB), it is possible to cultivate other crops alongside coffee in the same parcel of land, the best solution being to adopt good agricultural practices, he said.

Considering the segmented nature of the coffee market, the NCCB boss disagrees with the outright laying of blame on coffee quality to justify poor performance in the market. Each quality according to him is destined for a particular market. The most important thing is the intrinsic value of the crop. It is therefore this strong factor that militates in favour of increasing production and grabbing the best on the international market. Robusta coffee for instance, sells at average FCFA 870 a kilogramme on the international market and between FCFA 700 and 800 at the port of export.

There are however, high hopes that the situation will change for the better follwing the announcement of the new strategy to step up coffee production by 191 percent between 2010 and 2015. Coffee production is expected to increase by 82,000 metric tons, from present 43,000 tons to 125,000. Two main options have been proposed to government to attain this target; create new farms with high yielding coffee plants and regenerate old ones. This strategy will need to be executed in order to get the sector out of coma.

 LUKONG Pius NYUYLIME