Coffee production in Democratic Republic of the Congo

There were more than 11,000 coffee farmers in the DRC in 2013.{{cite news|last1=Foote|first1=Willy|title=In Violent Congo, Hope In The Shape Of A Coffee Bean|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/willyfoote/2013/10/17/in-violent-congo-hope-in-the-shape-of-a-coffee-bean/|access-date=1 June 2015|work=Forbes|date=17 October 2013}} Co-operative associations, such as Furaha, Muungano, and Sopacdi are valuable partners to the coffee farmers in sales and distribution.

Many varieties of coffee are grown in the DRC but the two major species are Robusta, which is grown mainly in the northeast of the country such as in Isiro,{{cite book|title=Surveys of African Economies: Democratic Republic of Congo, Malagasy Republic, Malawi, Mauritius, and Zambia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xRAwAAAAMAAJ|year=1971|publisher=International Monetary Fund|page=25}} and in the low lands of Ubangi, Uele, Kivu, Kasai, and Bas-Congo; and the lighter Arabica varieties which is grown at higher elevations in Kivu and Ituri. Arabica accounts for one fifth of the total production of coffee.{{Sfn|Kisangani|Bobb|2009|p=89}}

By 1989, coffee exports were at a high of {{convert|119,320|LT|MT|order=flip|0}}, but they declined sharply in the 1994–2003 period,{{cite book|title=Export Opportunities and Barriers in African Growth and Opportunity Act-Eligible Countries, Inv. 332-464|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n-tlo3KPcgMC&pg=SA3-PA21|publisher=U.S. International Trade Commission, DIANE Publishing|isbn=978-1-4578-1970-4|page=3}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.ipsnews.net/2011/08/dr-congo-fresh-start-for-dr-congos-coffee-producers/|title=DR Congo: Fresh Start for DR Congo's Coffee Producers|access-date=2 June 2015|date=31 May 2015|publisher=Inter Press Service News Agency}} possibly due to the civil wars of 1997 and 1998. Coffee wilt disease also affected growth in some areas. After the peace agreement was signed in December 2002, following the end of the civil war, production of coffee rose to {{convert|40,000|LT|MT|order=flip|0}} in 2003 from a figure of {{convert|32000|LT|MT|order=flip|0}} in 2002.{{Sfn|Kisangani|Bobb|2009|p=89}} In 2006, coffee production, in terms of {{convert|60|kg}} bags, was 100,000 bags of Arabica and 470,000 bags of Robusta.{{Cite web|url=http://www.indexmundi.com/democratic_republic_of_the_congo/agriculture/coffee-green.html|title=Congo, Democratic Republic of the – Coffee; Green – Production, Consumption, Imports, & Exports|access-date=2 June 2015|publisher= indexmundi.com}} Total exports were 400,000 bags of {{convert|60|kg}}, but by 2010 coffee production was still {{convert|6,000|LT|MT|order=flip|0}} less than 10% of what it had been 20 years earlier in 1989 [{{convert|119,320|LT|MT|order=flip|0}}].

In 2012, the government launched a programme for the recovery of the coffee sector titled Strategy Document for the Recovery of the Coffee Sector 2011–2015 and made a budgetary provision US$100 million for the purpose. It was estimated that the recovery plan would result in an increase in production to {{convert|120,000|LT|MT|order=flip|0}} by 2015. The regions where recovery of coffee growth has been planned are eight districts of South Kivu province, the Robusta variety of coffee in the Orientale province, and about {{convert|700|ha}} of Arabica coffee in Bandundu province.

• List of countries by coffee production

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book|last1= Kisangani |first1=Emizet Francois |last2= Bobb |first2=Scott F. |title=Historical Dictionary of the Democratic Republic of the Congo|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FvAWPTaRvFYC&pg=PA89|date=1 October 2009|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-6325-5}}

{{Coffee production}}

{{Portal bar|Coffee|Democratic Republic of the Congo}}

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Category:Lake Kivu

Category:Economy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo