Success Stories
A First for Coffee in Many Years
Photo: CLUSA, Roque Gonçalves
Toward the end of the colonial era, Angola was an agricultural powerhouse: self-sufficient in food production, exporting sisal and cotton, and the fourth largest exporter of coffee in the world. Today, coffee is like a fond memory among Angolans, whose coffee fields were abandoned during the war, many replaced with food crops such as maize and cassava. In May of 2007, however, a sign of recovery for this industry glimmered in the realization of Angola’s first shipment of coffee to Europe after many years. ProAgro, a USAID-funded program, facilitated a visit by CTCS, a brokerage trading company in Seven Oaks, England, to Angola. The firm, which supplies coffee retailers such as Starbucks and Marks and Spencers Roasters, placed a trial order for 300 metric tons, worth an estimated USD$64,000, of commercial grade Amboim Robusta from the province of Kwanza Sul.
Robusta is used as a filler, blended with Arabica for brewing. “Amboim Robusta is famous. It is known as one of the best varieties of Robusta. The Amboim variety only grows in Gabela and Calulu, in Kwanza Sul. Years past, this and the Ambriz varieties were exported, but the Amboim was more famous,” explains ProAgro marketing advisor, Roque Gonçalves.
In 2005, ProAgro had invited CTCS to visit Angola and explore export opportunities. The company specializes in African Robusta coffee varieties and currently exports 65% of all Zambian coffee, and as much as 1100 metric tons annually from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In Angola, a major challenge facing coffee growers is how to make coffee profitable, in comparison with other competing crops such as plantains, Irish potatoes, and pineapple. To help 4,000 former coffee farmers restore coffee farms that were abandoned or underutilized, ProAgro is providing technical assistance in organizational development and facilitates access to bank loans and markets. Altogether, ProAgro has organized and trained 82 farmer associations and 11 management committees that represent 2,222 coffee smallholders.
ProAgro wants to engage more international coffee traders in evaluating the export potential and discussing strategies for the rehabilitation of the Angolan coffee industry, so to help open new market opportunities for Angolan coffee and market Robusta as specialty coffee with the help of international traders. CTCS has expressed interest in sharing the costs of furnishing a technical expert to assist ProAgro in assessing coffee production prospects in Angola. The company also plans to provide the project with a post-harvest specialist to evaluate coffee processing capabilities in Angola. CTCS hopes to export around 500 metric tons of coffee from this year’s harvest. With improvements in production and post harvest handling and processing, CTCS says that it can conceivably export as much as 1500 metric tons annually.
