Africa Rising

by

By Josh Doyle

Talented as your local barista might be, he didn’t discover coffee. That credit goes to Kaldi, the legendary African goat herder — or rather, to his goats. Kaldi was out herding one day when his goats started munching on a bush of red berries. When the goats began to jump, frolic, and get into all sorts of goat-like mischief, Kaldi knew something was afoot. He tried one of the berries himself, and soon found he was frolicking as well.

Legend has it Kaldi’s next move was to deliver the berries to a nearby monk. Depending on who you ask, the monk either thanked him for the berries and tried cooking them, or cursed them as a devil’s trick and tossed them into a fire. Either way, the aroma of freshly roasted coffee was soon discovered, and mankind has been hooked ever since.

The location of Kaldi’s famous discovery? Ethiopia, East Africa. The birthplace of coffee. It might seem odd then that today’s coffee-producing heavyweights are all oceans away from Africa.

Here’s a quick look at the world’s top three producers:

Brazil - Top by far, Brazil produced 3.36 million metric tons of beans in 2017

Vietnam - The runner up and the world’s robusta powerhouse, Vietnam produced 1.6 million metric tons in 2017

Colombia - Production reached 876,000 metric tons of beans in 2017

Despite being coffee’s rightful home, Africa has lagged behind global output growth. Projections for the 2018/19 crop year are 1.4%. Kenya and others, once known globally for producing quality beans in quantity, have lost some of their former glory. Several decades of badly managed supply chains, poor marketing, and low wages for farmers have held back African producers and dragged down the continent’s reputation as a reliable source of good beans. But things are changing. The world is waking up to realize African coffee has its perks. Countries including Ethiopia, Uganda, the Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire) and Kenya are seeking to boost production during the next five years — and are committed to overcoming hurdles to do so.

That task won’t be easy, but local governments and business leaders are tapping African coffee’s potential. There are also influential characters from abroad involved in reforming Africa’s specialty coffee sector and upgrading its value chain, a couple of whom we’ll hear from inside this issue.

 Coffee from Burundi, for example, cups with the best in the world, but low wages and poor infrastructure have made suppliers notoriously inconsistent. This can create problems for the baristas and roasters in Europe, Asia, and North America who have thirsty customers to keep happy.

Ethiopia has the most organic or forest-grown coffee, but its farming practices lag behind the rest of the coffee world, and its value chain is in rough shape, making for lower quality overall.

They’re also aware of the challenges they need to overcome. In this series, STiR explores ways to elevate the African coffee brand enlisting everyone from farmers, to local governments, to importers. There is growing insecurity about the world’s coffee industry has too many of its eggs in one basket. An over-reliance on Brazil and Vietnam to feed global demand is great for… well, Brazil and Vietnam. But what if something happens to crops or supply chains there? We’re thinking of the recent currency fluctuations of the Brazilian real and the coffee rust that struck South American growers in 2012. And what about when El Nino rears its unpredictable head? Temperatures globally are rising. June was the hottest month since the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration began collecting global tracking data 140 years ago. Vietnam is pulling its weight, but as a producer of mostly cheaper robusta beans, it can hardly be expected to pick up the slack if things go awry in South America.

Incomes are rising in many parts of the world, and as they do, more people are looking to fill their mugs with good coffee. In 2018 the Middle East hit a high of 9,000 branded coffee shops. In China, where incomes have skyrocketed over the past 20 years, coffee consumption has jumped 950%. And traditional espresso-focused countries in Europe, including Italy, are on the verge of a specialty coffee boom.

With this in mind, STiR sees space in the market for producers from unique origins with unbeatable quality. So long as Africa’s key producing regions continue to improve within their borders, there is huge potential for what’s to come. Change is on the horizon for the world’s forgotten coffee paradise. We see Africa rising.