BY DELISA THWALA
MBABANE – With support from the European Union and the International Trade Centre’s Alliances for Action sustainable agribusiness programme, Eswatini Coffee has been able to connect with coffee growers from other countries, and to return with new coffee species.
“Before, we only planted arabica coffee, but we are now exploring the potential of growing the robusta species as well,” said Du Pont.
The EU and ITC enabled Eswatini Coffee to go for a coffee study visit in Uganda, which is known primarily for Robusta coffee production and has set ambitious goals to quadruple coffee production in the coming years.
Under the same umbrella of support, the enterprise also attended high-level international trade shows in 2023 like World of Coffee Dubai, Specialty Coffee Expo in Johannesburg, and World of Coffee Athens to gather intel on coffee sector trends and to build commercial linkages.
The EU and ITC have also assisted Eswatini Coffee in establishing a nursery to support farmers who want to start growing coffee from seedlings. They currently produce 15,000 to 30,000 seedlings per year for both the arabica and robusta species.
To meet farmer demand, the goal is to expand nursery production capacity to at least 60,000 to 70,000 seedlings per year.
Rural community across borders: Supporting Botswana
Eswatini Coffee is also working beyond Eswatini, with farmers from Botswana, starting with two farming families who are seeking to establish and scale up production.
“So far, the results are impressive and we are very happy to continue to support them to continue to build up the volume that could be required by the export market,” said Du Pont.
Botswana is also part of the six Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states that form part of the EU-SADC Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).
The EPA grants the contracting parties a series of benefits that include amongst others, duty-free and quota-free access to the EU market.
Eswatini Coffee is part of the small and medium enterprises supported by the EU-funded “Eswatini: Promoting growth through competitive alliances” programme implemented by ITC’s Alliances for Action initiative.
Its main objective is to support job creation for small farmers, entrepreneurs, and artisans. It also seeks to promote export-led growth, especially through the full utilisation of the SADC-EU-EPA.
EU Programme Officer Luis Miguel Pascoal said they are supporting this project because they believe that growing quality coffee can boost local economies and benefit farmers.
“This support aims to enable farmers to grow high-quality coffee to boost their income year-on-year and stimulate the local economy,” he said.
“We want to help them get premium prices for their coffee and improve their standard of life. Most importantly, this kind of support seeks to expand the market for local quality coffee and create long-term opportunities for sustained growth. We hope that in the long term, this project will increase Eswatini exports to the EU and contribute towards the full utilisation of the SADC-EU-EPA.” he said in addition.
