STiR coffee and tea magazine

46 STiR coffee and tea | 2022 Issue 5 (October/November) "In fact, smallholder coffee produc- ers in Malawi are the future of the coun- try's coffee industry," Ng'ambi said. His group has recommended a variety of tac- tics and strategies to increase Malawi's coffee production in the years ahead. For now, Malawi's coffee exports, derived from the arabica varieties of Gei- sha, Caturra, Agaro, Mundo Novo, and Catimor, have been fluctuating, with the International Coffee Organization (ICO) estimating the volumes at 807 metric tons between February 2020 and January 2021. The total area under cultivation of coffee in Malawi is 1,700 hectares. Exports, mainly to the United King- dom, South Africa, Germany, and Swit- zerland, increased to 918 metric tons for the period between February 2021 and January 2022. The Malawian coffee is largely sold as green beans to these inter- national markets. According to the National Statistical Office of Malawi, coffee export earnings were approximately $1.9 million in 2019. The value fell to $1.4 million in 2020 be- fore increasing to $2.2 million in 2021. As for recertification, the Mzuzu union has gained a feisty ally in Fair Trade Scotland, which is helping run an inter- national crowdfunding campaign to help it repay wages. But the money raised so far remains small, at some $2,500 at press time, far short of the $79,000 needed. "Fairtrade International maintains that the only stumbling block now to the completion of Mzuzu's recertification is the wage arrears, to which the 150 staff agreed to wait until the coffee market picked up — yet without the certification it never will," said Eve Broadis of Fair Trade Scotland. A landlocked country about the size of Cuba, Malawi is in the Great Rift Valley region of southeastern Africa. It is less well known as a coffee origin than next–door Tanzania, but has many admirers. Malawi's coffee farmers grow only arabica. Courtesy: MCPCU

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