Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/1483499
44 STiR coffee and tea | 2022 Issue 5 (October/November) M By Shem Oirere alawi has a coffee industry whose production is low, but whose potential is high. For now, however, its prospects are caught in a "chicken-or-egg-first" predicament involving Fair Trade certification. Bad luck struck in 2017, when world coffee prices collapsed under the weight of a bumper crop in Brazil. Malawi's leading group of smallholders, the Mzuzu Coffee Planters Cooperative Union (MCPCU), fell into debt and was unable to pay wages to some 150 workers. That led Fairtrade International to cancel Mzuzu's certification in 2019. Buyers cancelled orders and didn't come back. Since that time, Mzuzu has been working to get recertified. But without the higher prices commanded by certified product, the coop has been unable to clear its debts. "Our main source of income is from coffee," said Mackson Ng'ambi, CEO of Mzuzu. "Once we have our coffee sold under the fairtrade certification, then our rev- enues will obviously increase, and at that point we will be able to clear our debts, including staff salary arrears." Malawi's nominal per-capita income ranks 216 th among 220 countries based on IMF and World Bank data. With a population of 19 million, Malawi's main crops are tea, tobacco, and macadamia nuts. Its coffee industry, established in the 1880s under Is fairtrade always fair? Bad luck cost coffee growers in Malawi their certification. Malawi Coffee Coop Gets Caught in Fairtrade Conundrum Malawi's Mzuzu Coffee Planters Cooperative Union (MCPCU) is working to restore the nation's coffee sector, which shrank drastically over the past 20 years due to blight and pests. Courtesy MCPCU "The decertification has really impacted adversely on our operations and currently we are selling non-certified coffee to buyers who pay less, hence affecting our revenues," Mackson Ng'ambi, CEO, Mzuzu.