Introduction of NCLL coffee beans in Zambia _ Mapang coffee beans in Kassama region, Zambia

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Zambia in Central Africa plays only a very minor role among the countries that produce Arabica beans worldwide, exporting about 6000 tons a year and earning a total of about US $85 million. But the country is working hard to increase production to 20000 tonnes over the next decade, hoping to win over many coffee buyers around the world.

Zambia is about the size of Texas, or the United Kingdom and France combined, with a total population of about 11.5 million. It is located on the Central African Plateau and is a mainly tropical highland country with an altitude of more than 4000 feet. Some coffee producing areas are located at higher altitudes.

Zambia first began commercial cultivation of coffee trees in 1978, with the first export recorded in 1985. The success of coffee cultivation, coupled with the desire of Champaign to earn a higher national income by exporting coffee beans, led the government to actively seek foreign aid to upgrade the conditions for commercial coffee cultivation in the country.

With vast land and sufficient water resources, Zambia provides good irrigation conditions for coffee producing areas in Zambia, and the production cost is relatively low, making up for the shortcomings of the country's geographical conditions-Zambia is a landlocked country. Zambia produces mild Arabica coffee beans (Mild Arabicas), whose quality level is comparable to that of neighboring Kenya, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. Most of the coffee species grown in Zambia are Bourbon species. The beans are round in shape, blue-green in color, high in density, and slightly coated with silver skin. Zambian coffee tastes sour, but at the same time has a round, thick and viscous taste. Excellent flavor.

This year Zambia has grown 5000 acres of coffee beans, with small-scale farms averaging around 200 acres, family-run farms ranging in size from 20 to 550 acres, and large-scale commercial farms ranging from 300 to 1,300 acres.

Coffee cultivation is highly compatible with Zambia's coffee-like business system. Growers combine coffee cultivation with other farm operations (such as beef cattle breeding, dairy products, flowers and vegetables). Zambia's national income is mainly derived from agricultural exports, except for copper and other mineral exports. With its earnings from coffee exports, Zambia invests in the purchase of processing equipment and in developing demand for other agricultural products in the country.

Zambia has a very large unemployed population, and the coffee production process provides many permanent job opportunities. These job vacancies can usually be assigned by the farm owner or supervisor, and different jobs can be assigned according to each season. This is also a relief for the generally poor rural Zambians.

Most arable land in Zambia is allocated almost exclusively to nationals, with only a small proportion allocated to foreign companies operating commercially, in contrast to other neighbouring coffee-producing countries. In addition, Zambia has no problem of insufficient allocation of land and water resources compared with other countries because of its small population.

In fact, the Zambian Government encourages the conversion of existing agricultural land to commercial cultivation through a 99-year lease policy, rather than land sale.

Zambia only grows Arabica coffee trees, most of which are traditional Bourbon species, all coffee beans are washed, and the quality level of coffee beans is comparable to Kenya coffee. Zambia coffee trees and the altitude of coffee producing areas in the south of the country make the coffee beans produced in Zambia mild in flavor but rich in content, belonging to the coffee type that is popular with the general public.

Zambia's late start in coffee cultivation has allowed it to apply the latest technology and environmental concepts, coupled with sophisticated water use, efficient recycling of coffee pulp into compost, biological pest control and ecological balance, to its coffee industry, which is committed to transforming a traditionally labour-intensive industry into a cooperative and mutually beneficial relationship with rural Zambians.

According to Zambian law, the coffee industry is dominated by the Zambia Coffee Council, which delegates most of its operational machinery to coffee farmers to form the Zambia Coffee Farmers Association (ZCGA).

The association was founded in 1987 and currently has 70 large farms and 530 small farms. All coffee farmers are members. The association's founding goal is to consider the interests of its members, mainly to provide secretarial information, coffee business development, training, technical support, quality control, marketing services and other aspects of business.

With Zambia's total coffee bean export volume reaching 6500 tonnes in 2003, the Zambia Coffee Farmers Association is planning to launch a 1.5 tonne Dry Mill facility funded by the European Union to be built in Lusaka, Zambia's capital city, which is also the headquarters of the Zambia Coffee Farmers Association and is located in the heart of the country's coffee producing areas.

The facility was inaugurated by the President of Zambia in April this year and provides dry grinding services to small-scale farms in the Zambia Coffee Farmers Association. Since small-scale farmers themselves cannot afford to buy their own dry grinders, these small-scale farms can also find large-scale farms to do the post-processing of coffee beans for them.

In his inaugural address, Zambian President Mwanawasa referred to his government's policy of ensuring that small-scale coffee farmers receive substantial cash incentives and technical support, saying: "To encourage small-scale coffee farmers, we will adopt an 'outside grower' mechanism as a business strategy." The meaning of "outside grower" is supposed to be "centered on the government-run post-processing plant, where small-scale coffee farmers provide the raw material supply for coffee cherries, and the government-run grinding plant provides the post-processing process, which is a compromise between the division of labor between the government and the people."﹞

In fact, this mechanism is not working very well at present, and the total amount of coffee produced and exported in this way is only 9 tons, mainly because of the lack of import and irrigation facilities. Without good irrigation facilities, Zambia cannot grow smoothly or achieve sufficient production. Zambia's banking sector is not actively assisting small-scale coffee farms in need of cash, and there is a deep-rooted belief in Zambia that lending is a "gift" that does not need to be repaid.

The Zambian Coffee Council, which is responsible for running the scheme, decided to hand it over to the Zambia Coffee Farmers Association, which now plans to extend the concept of "outside growers" to coffee plantations in the large corporate system within the organization as a compromise to indirectly assist the livelihoods of their small-scale farm allies. There are already some large enterprise systems willing to provide doorstep extension services, input, irrigation facilities, centrally managed post-processing plants, etc. to continue this "outside grower" project.

Despite the low prices on the international coffee futures market, some of Zambia's top coffee beans, such as AAA/AA, can still fetch good prices, especially in the boutique market in Japan, where the best prices are around US$1900 per ton.

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