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Malawi, Africa’s second-largest tea producer, plans to more than double coffee output within the next 10 years, Coffee Association of Malawi chairman Harrison Kalua has said.

Production of the beans may increase to between 4,000 metric tons and 5,000 tons from an expected 2,000 tons this year as farmers plant more of the crop, Kalua told financial news agency Bloomberg at a coffee conference in Arusha, in northern Tanzania.


Some small-scale farmers have started growing coffee in addition to tobacco, which is their primary source of income, he said.

Coffee production in Malawi declined from a peak of 7,000 tons in 2000 because of an increase in fertilizer costs, according to the Association.

Malawi is Africa’s largest tea producer after Kenya.

According to Kalua, Malawi coffee is one of the most sought after commodities in the world, attributing the trend to its unique flavour.

Meanwhile, Japan, the globe’s third-largest economy, will increase coffee purchasing from countries that will include Malawi.—Nyasa Times