Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/737343
STiR coffee and tea 25 returning to their land but lacked a market. The company identified promising growers and began advising and training them to reach a high level of excellence. Getting the green coffee out of the country was an adventure and test of endurance. Once it was roasted, cuppings attested to the quality. But quantities were so small the coffee was only distributed in France. The yield in the latest harvest improved and the company will be able to offer the coffee in five European countries this year. "In South Sudan, coffee will be the second export after oil," predicted Nespresso c.e.o. Jean-Marc Duvoisin. "There is always conflict linked to oil revenues, but you never have that with coffee because people have to work at it every day to get their rewards," he told GreenBiz. TechnoServe has constructed six coffee processing mills and is building an ad- ditional three. The NGO plans to train 1,500 South Sudanese coffee farmers by 2019 with at least 25% of the trainees women. The US Agency for International Develop- ment (USAID) joined the partnership in April, committing $3 million. "We wanted to help smallholder farmers have a business opportunity around the existing coffee, to switch the thinking from, 'I've got a couple of coffee trees in my yard,' to, 'I can really work on this and make a living'," said TechnoServe c.e.o. William Warshauer. Political instability makes the situation fragile, but no less worthy, according to Warshauer who was forced to withdraw many of TechnoServe's foreign workers for their safety last year. Fortunately the Yei region was not affected by fighting. War- shauer anticipates much larger employment in the years to come. In the souks of Khartoum the aromatic resin myrrh is often presented on a tray of coffee. This scent of this sweet ancient incense symbolizes service to others. Nespresso's Duvoisin writes that "we do not expect to make a return on invest- ment for the next few years" but reviving the coffee industry holds the greatest prom- ise. Suluja as one giant r&d project which won't become profitable until the country is producing large enough volumes to service multiple markets. "We make these bets because we want to deliver new coffee experiences," he said. Coffee drying in South Sudan