Tarime Natural, Tanzania | Filter

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Coffee has been around in Tanzania for centuries, beginning with the Haya tribe in the northwest, back in the 16th century. Coffee soon spread throughout the North after the British and the Germans bought up land and planted coffee at a larger scale. This was primarily estate-grown coffee.

Today, coffee grows more in the South, and about 6% of the population is involved with coffee production. And this number is only growing. Estates are now mostly in the North and make up roughly 10% of coffee production. The remaining 90% of coffee is grown by smallholder producers belonging to Agricultural Marketing Cooperative Societies (AMCOS). Tanzania’s government strongly supports coffee production and are currently seeking ways to increase yields.

In the northern reaches of Tanzania, near the border of Kenya, is the Tarime District in the Mara region. This area was once known for naturally processed coffee, but now with the opening of wet mills, producers are selling freshly picked cherries to AMCOS groups, who then directly sell to processing facilities. With cool air coming from Lake Victoria, high altitudes and rich soils, this area is ideal for coffee production. However, from 2017 – 2019, due to a change in government regulations, coffee became difficult to sell in Tarime, so many producers shifted to other crops to generate income. In 2020, coffee buying operations resumed back to normal, yet it was difficult for farmers to revery back to coffee since they began growing other crops. Our exporting partner in Tanzania, Dormans, worked with farmers to assist with the replanting and processing of coffee.

For this specific lot, Dormans work with the Muriba Coffee Processing Unit (CPU) who process and bag coffee from various AMCOS groups in Tarime. The CPU buys coffee from five AMCOS groups and visits the collection centers of each group to gather the cherries during the harvest season.

The AMCOS groups are located nearby, making collection quick and easy for the CPU. The Tagare AMCOS, for example, represents 149 producers, half of which are women, started its operations six years ago and sell their coffee to the CPU. Another group, the Kema AMCOS, made up of 500 producers, 200 of which are women, was initiated 8 years ago and also sell their cherries to the CPU. Producers from each of these groups typically have one hectare or less, on average.