STiR coffee and tea magazine

42 STiR coffee and tea | 2023 Issue 4 (August / September) "Coffee farmers are reluctant to stump their coffee trees because they view it as a loss." Laetitia Ohouo Rainforest Alliance T he rank of Cote d' Ivoire among the world's coffee growers stands at around 14th today, far below its status as Africa's biggest producer in the 1970s and 1980s, when it trailed only Brazil and Colombia in volume. Its output peaked at 380,000 tons in 2000, almost all of it robusta, mostly natural processed. Years of political turbulence set in after 2000, culminating in the First Ivorian Civil War, 2002–2007, followed by the Second Ivorian Civil War, 2010–2011, which devas- tated the sector. Output hit a nadir in 2011 at 32,291 tons. By 2020 it had rebounded to 106,500 tons or 1,775,000 bags (60 kilogram). This is far below the ambitious 2020 production target of 400,000 tons set by the Ministry of Agriculture in 2014. Nevertheless, Ivory Coast today accounts for about 10% of all coffee grown in Africa, behind Ethiopia and Uganda, according to data from the International Coffee Organization. Almost all of Ivory Coast's coffee is ex- ported. Little is specialty grade, however. With a population of 20 million, most of whom farm for a living, Ivory Coast has a per-capita GDP of around $2,400. Improving coffee production has potential to help advance the social and economic welfare of Ivorians. The crop is farmed by some 100,000 to 150,000 smallholders, whose farms average 2.5 hectares in size. Yields are low due to pests, disease, aging coffee trees, climate change, and low in- vestment. Nowadays, most Ivorian farmers prefer to grow cocoa, the nation's leading Coffee Origin Update: Ivory Coast Struggles to Rebuild Production Can Cote d' Ivoire relive its glory days as a big coffee producer? By Shem Oirere Almost all coffee produced in Ivory Coast is robusta, grown by some 100,000 to 150,000 smallholders on farms averaging 2.5 hectares in size.

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