Africans want to expand quality coffee production

African coffee producers will seek to expand production of speciality coffees for export to niche Western markets, an industry official said Sunday. Affiliates of the 10-member Eastern African Coffee Association (EAFCA) had agreed to raise coffee production to 10 million (60 kg) bags by 2010 from 7 million bags this year and a priority was to export more speciality coffees, the group's chairman, Leslie Omari, told Reuters in Zambia.
Producers had reaffirmed a commitment to new farming technology to raise output, Omari said at the end of an international industry conference in this resort.
"We want to raise production to 10 million bags in the next five years from 7 million bags this year. Our desire is ... increasing the amount of speciality coffee to the niche market because this is what fetches the best prices," he said.
Omari said his group was also expanding, and Angola and Madagascar were set to join. Battling to grow its economy and combat poverty after a three-decade civil war that ended in 2002, Angola is turning to crops such as coffee and sugar in addition to its vast oil and minerals resources.
Omari said his group opposed child labour wanted to ensure that no children were involved in cultivating the crop of peaking beans. The group was keen to conform to international requirements on the rights of children, he said.
"We want to ensure our farmers grow the right coffee and this will require dissemination of latest farming information to improve on the quality of the coffees," he said.
Stringent requirements on quality coffee sought by western roasters was being sent to farmers, Omari said.
Omari said the group would also work to try to raise coffee consumption in the region. He added that his group was fighting perceptions in some parts of Africa that coffee caused health problems.
"Most people are wary of drinking coffee because they have a belief it is dangerous to their health. We have to reverse this trend and encourage more and more people to drink coffee within the region," he said, but offered no further details.
The Eastern African Coffee Association comprises Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo.