STiR coffee and tea magazine

44 STiR coffee and tea | 2023 Issue 4 (August / September) AWAKEN * *SYNONYM: STiR, stimulate, animate, arouse, excite... Don't Miss a Single STiRring Issue of the World's Leading Industry Magazine for Coffee and Tea. AWAKEN a paid subscription to STiR (coffee and tea magazine) | Visit stir-tea-coffee.com/subscribe | Email malisa@stir-tea-coffee.com w w w. s t i r - t e a - c o ff e e . c o m w w w. s t i r - t e a - c o ff e e . c o m Ivory Coast ranks 14th among the world's coffee producers in volume terms, down from 3rd in the 1970s and 1980s. "Some of the farms have been un- der production for a very long period, at times more than 15 years and the yields have drastically reduced," she said. Cof- fee farmers are reluctant to stump their coffee trees because they view it as a loss. The trees will stop producing until they recover, and the grower may not have a source of income as they wait for them to starting flowering again after nine or more months. "We started training coffee farmers on stumping since 2018 and up to now at least 2,000 smallholder farms have par- ticipated in the program," Ohouo added. Most of these farms range in size from 0.5 hectare to 10 ha. The average size of coffee farms in Cote d' Ivoire is 2.5 ha. The stumping program is financed by Nestlé, which has been sourcing coffee from Central and West Africa for pro- duction of its Nescafé brand. In a statement Nestlé said its involve- ment in Côte d'Ivoire's coffee sector is intended to "improve the living standards of coffee farmers, increase the quality and quantity of the coffee they produce, ensure responsible sourcing." Nestlé's program has incorporated at least 45 primary coffee societies with an estimated 22,000 farms. Cote d' Ivoire has 3,500 cooperatives that trade in both coffee and cocoa. At least 50% of Cote d' Ivoire's smallholder coffee farms are affiliated with a cooperative. "The coffee farmers deliver their cof- fee to their respective cooperative societ- ies from where it is packed and delivered to Nestlé's buying stations for process- ing," she said. "Cote d' Ivoire's coffee output has also been impacted by erratic

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