Malawi boutique coffee cooperative introduction: Boca cooperative

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Malawi is a small country in southeastern Africa and a landlocked country not near the sea. most of its coffee is grown in the northern plateau, but the yield is not large. But although it is not near the sea, it can be seen on the map that there is a very large lake to the northeast of it. It is Lake Malawi, which is also the natural boundary between Malawi and its neighbors. Compared with Kenya, Malawi coffee also has considerable sweetness and aroma, while the sour taste is in a different style. If the sour in Kenya is compared to the treble, the sour in Malawi feels like a mid-bass. Coffee grown in Malawi is grown in Arabica and is treated by washing. It is the country's ninth largest export, accounting for only about 5% of the country's total exports. However, in particular, although the export volume is very limited, the mode of production and marketing of its coffee is for local people to set up their own production and marketing companies to be responsible for the production, processing and sale of coffee, rather than the collection and distribution of coffee led by the government in Kenya. In this independent mode of operation, the quality of coffee in Malawi has been maintained at a considerable level, so it is also one of the favorite coffees of traders.

In East Africa, Arabica coffee beans with an average elevation of 2000 meters are grown, which is the ninth largest coffee export in East Africa. what is more special is that the production and marketing of Malawi coffee beans is produced and sold by local people's own production and marketing companies, rather than the entire distribution operation led by the government, as in Kenya, so the coffee quality has been maintained at a certain level, which is regarded as one of the few high-quality coffee beans in the world.

The Muzhuzhu Coffee Growers Union Cooperative (Mzuzu CoffeePlanters Cooperstive Union), referred to as MZCPCU, is made up of primary cooperatives in five small areas near the west bank of Lake Malawi: Misuku Hills, Phoka Hills, Viphya North, Nkhata Bay Highlands and Southeast Mzimba. Coffee grown in these areas is a mixture of Catimor129, Nyika Catimor and a small portion of Geisha (inherited from the early days of the collaborative movement)

The growers involved in the project are part of the Muzhuzhu Coffee Growers Union Cooperative. The cooperative is currently made up of more than 3000 small farmers, most of whom are second-or third-generation coffee producers. Nearly 25 per cent of Mzuzu coffee grower cooperatives are women who run their own land.