DAR ES SALAAM, (The Southern African Times) – The Tanzania Coffee Board (TCB), a government organ mandated to regulate the coffee industry in the east African nation, said on Sunday it has started taking measures aimed at boosting production of the crop from the current 70,000 tons annually to 300,000 tons annually by 2025.
Aurelia Kamuzora, TCB board of directors’ chairman, said TCB was working with coffee stakeholders in the country to ensure that the target of producing 300,000 tons of the crop annually by 2025 is achieved.
Speaking at the climax of a three-day coffee festival in Tanzania’s northern municipality of Moshi on the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain, Kamuzora said the board has already started increasing the availability of coffee seedlings in large quantities for coffee growers.
Adolf Mkenda, the Minister for Agriculture, said the Tanzania Coffee Research Institute (TaCRI) has already shown success in producing coffee seeds that can withstand drought conditions.
Mkenda called on financial institutions to support the government in efforts aimed at boosting production of the cash crop.
In April, this year, President Samia Suluhu Hassan, directed the Ministry of Agriculture to increase production of strategic crops, including coffee, to enable the country earn the much needed foreign currency through exports.
