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The Democratic Republic of Congo was a major producer of coffee. But the civil disturbances grossly affected coffee production. The country still has coffee production at a reduced scale, but most of it is exported.
The Democratic Republic of Congo was a major producer of coffee. But the civil disturbances grossly affected coffee production. The country still has coffee production at a reduced scale, but most of it is exported.
Locally, the product is known as Kinoise. Coffee was grown in the eastern provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu. Turbulence in the region, which continued for nearly three decades has ravaged the country’s agriculture, particularly coffee cultivation. Now, things are changing with more and more young people coming to cultivate coffee and are engaged in locally marketing the product, apart from exports. The DRC grows mostly the Robusta and Arabica varieties, although other varieties are grown in certain pockets in small areas.
Analysts maintain that coffee cultivation, because of its backward and forward linkages, can create a large number of employment in the country, where a large number of people are unemployed, leading to social tensions. Accordingly, in 2012 DRC launched a program for the recovery of the coffee sector titled Strategy Document for the Recovery of the Coffee Sector 2011–2015 and made a budgetary provision of US$100 million for the purpose.
There are about 11,000 coffee farmers in the country, mostly located in the northeast of the country such as in Isiro, and in the lowlands of Ubangi, Uele, Kivu, Kasai, and Bas-Congo. In higher elevations, such as in Kivu and Ituri, Arabica varieties are grown.
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In 1989, coffee exports were at a high of 121,235 metric tons. They declined sharply in the 1994–2003 period, due to the civil wars of 1997 and 1998. Coffee wilt disease also affected growth in some areas. After the peace agreement signed in December 2002, following the end of the civil war, the production of coffee rose to 40,642 metric tons in 2003 from a figure of 32,514 metric tons in 2002. In 2006, coffee production, in terms of 60 kilograms (130 lb) bags, was 100,000 bags of Arabica and 470,000 bags of Robusta. Total exports were 400,000 bags of 60 kilograms (130 lb). But by 2010 coffee production was still 6,096 metric tons (6,000 long tons) less than 10% of what it had been 20 years earlier in 1989. DRC is expecting an increased focus on coffee production would lead to increased production, exports, and importantly, more employment to people.
