Coffee drinking in Tanzania,one of the leading in crop producers in Africa,is currently estimated to be between five to seven percent.
The Tanzania Coffee Board (TCB) has embarked on a new bid to promote coffee drinking among Tanzanians.
Drinking of the stimulant in the country, one of the leading crop producers in Africa, is currently estimated to be between five and seven percent.
TCB managing director Primus Kimaryo said in Moshi last week that the state-owned board intends to increase coffee drinking to at least 25 percent by 2025.
The board says Tanzania produced 73,207 tonnes of coffee beans during the 2021 season, of which 4,029 will be for the domestic market.
Mr. Kimaryo revealed this when he spoke to reporters on the eve of the international coffee drinking day marked each year on October 1st.
He said the foreign market continues to be the largest destination of the bulk of coffee produced in Tanzania and that local consumption has remained low.
He added that the board would soon embark on deliberate promotion of local consumption of the stimulant among the Tanzanians.
He said despite increased production of the crop, Tanzanians were not even among the leading people in the world on its consumption.
October 1st every year has been designated an International Coffee Day, an event intended to, among others, increase drinking of the stimulant.
Mr. Kimaryo said coffee has some health benefits to drinkers because studies have indicated long term consumption reduces the risk of some diseases.
The International Coffee Day was marked at Uhuru Park in Moshi on October 1st with a call for the youth to embark on coffee production.
Market analysts, however, believe the export market will continue to be the stimulus for increased coffee production and that it will take time for the local consumption to pick up.
"In Tanzania people produce coffee for the export market not for consumption", said Ms Kulthum Swedi,a local coffee exporter and processor.
She said the mindset of industry players in Tanzania is to produce coffee for the export market, not for household consumption.
Ms Swedi, who is an assistant general manager of the Bukoba-based Azania Fresh Foods, hinted recently this can change with the increasing purchasing power of the people.
Interventions suggested include encouraging investors to set up coffee shops in prime zones of the towns and cities and coffee drinking in schools.
TCB, a Moshi-based regulatory body for the sector, says annual per capita coffee production in Tanzania is estimated to be 0.06 kilogrammes.
Another coffee drinking promotion took place in July this year during the Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair (DITF)
The minister for Agriculture Prof Adolf Mkenda implored on TCB and TanTrade to promote local drinking of the stimulant in order to broaden the market.
Coffee has been one of the leading export crops for Tanzania, averaging 30,000 to 40,000 tonnes annually before the recent steep rise.
Approximately, 70 percent of the crop produced in Tanzania is Arabica while 30 percent is Robusta.
Although coffee drinking is being promoted to broaden the market,its consumption has a cultural trait as seen in some countries.
Ethiopia, for instance,consumes a half of its annual produce because drinking of the stimulant is part of its people's culture.
The Horn of Africa country is the leading producer of Arabica coffee in Africa and produced a total of 7.7 million tonnes in 2018.
"Most of our people drink coffee. It's part of our culture. Local consumption is high. In every house coffee is consumed", said Teshome Wolde, an Ethiopian exhibitor during last year's trade fair in Mombasa.
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