Malawi Coffee Industry - A Sleeping Forex Giant

Source from:  June 22, 2006, 15 hours, By Hastings Mbewe  06/23/2006

Blantyre (AND) Malawi's Smallholder Coffee Farmers Trust says the country's coffee industry has the potential of raking into the country about K100 million ($719 000) annually if it can be well developed. "We have good land in this country and a hardworking human resource but what we are lacking is financial assistance," SCFT general manager Harrison Kalua told the press. He said if the country can cultivate 10 000 acres of coffee annually the return would be K100 million especially now that global coffee prices are stable and far much better than tobacco. He said government was not doing enough to promote the thriving coffee industry. "Government is [turning] a blind eye to coffee farming. They are concentrating on tobacco," he said. "Government must pump in more money in this industry. Tobacco farming has been successful in the past because government had put in a lot of money, they should also do the same with coffee." He said the time is now for government to diversify it's crop production and not concentrate on tobacco whose proceeds on the market are dwindling. Enditem