YAOUNDE (Reuters) - Cameroon's combined robusta and arabica coffee exports reached 48,164 tonnes during the 2010 season, up 32 percent from the year before, the National Cocoa and Coffee Board (NCCB) said.
Robusta coffee exports rose to 44,966 tonnes in 2010, up from 29,350 tonnes in 2009, while arabica coffee exports were down 5.5 percent at 3,198 tonnes in 2010.
Cameroon is one of few African countries that grow both robusta and arabica coffee, all on small family farms of 1-2 hectares.
But low investment in the sector has left crop yields low at around 290 kg per hectare, compared with 2,200 kg in the world's second-largest grower Vietnam.
Officials of the NCCB and the Cocoa and Coffee Interprofessional Board (CCIB) said high prices on the world market had encouraged farmers to sell more beans rather than stock them, as they had done the year before.
Speaking at the launch of the 2011 season, Cameroon's Trade Minister Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana pledged government support for improving storage facilities and providing better information on prices.
(Source: http://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFJOE71H0PL20110218)
No comments:
Post a Comment