Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/1461678
20 STiR coffee and tea / Issue 2, 2022 (April / May) by Gordon Feller B efore 1975, when Angola gained its inde- pendence from Portugal, the country was ranked the third-largest producer of cof- fee in the world with its Coffea canephora (robusta) considered a high-quality product. In this coffee- producing country Coffea arabica is produced on a smaller scale in the central plateau region, where as soil conditions and climate are favorable. In 1974, at the country's historic height of production Angola produced 228,000 metric tons (mt) of coffee. Approximately 2,500 large com- mercial farms and 250,000 smallholders were in- volved in coffee production. In 1985, a group of 34 state-owned coffee companies produced 8,890 mt, and they were dependent upon government subsidies to stay in business. In 2021 the total cultivated area amounted to 43,600 hectares (ha), among the potential of 2.5 million ha of land with aptitude for coffee produc- tion, according to the National Coffee Institute (INCA). Average yields were 4,146 mt and 1,006 mt (a total of 5,152 mt) of robusta and arabica commercial coffee, respectively, declining from the previous year's total production of 6,050 mt. Currently, about 84% of the production comes from small-to-medium-sized operations, many of these family farms. INCA considers a Angola - Farmers wear masks during a farmer field school session on Covid-19 prevention in Malanje Province, Lombe community. Angola has very few cases of Covid-19 and FAO. together with the Angolan government, is working to keep it that way. (Photo credit: FAO/Estevao Benedito.) Angola Aims to Stay in the Coffee Game – And Maybe Even Get Ahead How does a country like Angola, ravaged by 27 years of civil war, find its rightful place within the global coffee industry? total of 16,047 of these coffee producing planta- tions to as low productivity producers. Despite this fact, some family farmers and private compa- nies introduce new plantations to increase their production averages. Exports around the world conclude that cof- fee represents an excellent growth opportunity for Angola. One important reason is that, over the course of the past three decades, growing world- wide demand for coffee led to a 60% increase in global production, according to the London-based International Coffee Organization (ICO). Look- ing at the data published by Statista (https:// www.statista.com/statistics/263311/worldwide- production-of-coffee/ ), "global coffee produc- tion reached 163.7 million 60-kilogram bags as of 2019/2020". This one sector of Angola's economy is prom- ising partly because it attracts innovation and in- vestment. But its sustainability must be strength- ened. And a lack of access to affordable finance hinders the work which farmers do to grow better quality product and increase the productivity of their plantations. The World Bank ranks Angola as a "lower middle income". With a fast-growing population of 30 million and with per capita annual income