Cameroon coffee production dropped by 27% in 2015

Cameroon's coffee production dropped 27 percent last year as the number of coffee cuttings fell short, but exports rose, the National Cocoa and Coffee Board (NCCB) said on Wednesday.

Production for the 2014-15 season dropped to 23,866 tonnes from 32,808 tonnes the previous year, the NCCB said, pulling the Central African country further from its ambitious target of annual output of 160,000 tonnes by 2020.

Of this year's crop, 21,846 tonnes were robusta and 2,109 tonnes were arabica.
Cameroon is one of the few African producers of robusta and arabica beans. It exports across the world, principally Germany, Belgium and Russia. China, Holland and Malaysia were new buyers last year, the NCCB said.

The NCCB put the production drop down to "a lack of selected cuttings and poor agricultural practices of farmers," but did not elaborate.

It has in the past cited the high cost of equipment, inadequate regulation, bad roads, high taxes and insufficient quality controls as restricting faster growth.

Exports rose to 23,673 tonnes despite the drop in production, up over 8 percent from the 2013-14 season. The three main exporters were Olam, NWCA and Uccao.

At the end of last season, stockpiles were 11,624 tonnes, of which 11,524 tonnes was robusta and 99 tonnes was arabica.

The arabica season runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30 while the robusta season is from Dec. 1 to Nov. 30.