Coffee farmers opt for best practices in Tanzania

Peter Temba in AllAfrica.com via the Tanzania Daily News: An initiative involving better coffee production and climate change was launched at Sal Salinero Hotel here recently. Its aim is to enable coffee farmers to respond to changing climatic conditions by applying better farming practices.

The measures include climate change adaptation and mitigation into a globally applicable toolbox, it was learnt here on Friday. According to the Director General of the Moshi-based Tanzania Coffee Board (TCB), Engineer Adolph Kumburu, who was among 40 invited participants to the meeting, the project combines farmer know-how with state of the art climate change science.

It builds upon experiences gained within other relevant projects. It is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development."Pilot projects in four key coffee regions (Brazil, Guatemala, Tanzania and Vietnam), are designed to test the toolbox in the field and to develop appropriate training schemes for farmers and service providers," he said.

He added that worldwide dissemination of the defined toolbox is promoted through the establishment of a self-financing institutional frame work. Kumburu revealed that stakeholders within the pilot projects are undergoing capacity building activities, enabling them to apply effective strategies in order to respond to climate change.

"At least 3,000 farmers, including operators of processing stations, are trained directly by the project in order to meet climate change challenges. Furthermore stakeholders along green coffee supply chains can utilize the toolbox for developing and applying best adaptation and mitigation practices," he said....