Tanzania AB

Coffee’s roots in Tanzania can be traced back to the Haya tribe in northwest Tanzania in the 16th century, according to oral history. Following German and then British colonial rule, the Tanzanian coffee industry has undergone numerous transformations and adjustments in an effort to produce the most equitable, profitable, and high-quality coffee possible. Today, our in-country partner, Sucafina Tanzania, is a beacon of hope, deeply invested in improving the coffee and the lives of smallholder farmers through a variety of initiatives.

Coffee in Tanzania was grown almost exclusively in the North for a long time. The Kilimanjaro, Arusha, Tarime, Kagera, Kigoma, and Karatu/Ngorongoro regions were prized for their ideal conditions for growing Arabica coffee, such as high altitudes, rich volcanic soils, and a temperate climate. At the time, coffee production was so concentrated in the North that Moshi, a northern municipality, was the only hub for all coffee milling and sales.

Operations in Moshi grew to truly massive proportions in the 1950s and early 1960s. Since both Tanzania, Kenya, and Burundi were under British rule in the post-war decades, Moshi was the second milling and sales hub (after Nairobi, Kenya) for British coffee production.

Recent years have seen a significant shift in the geography of coffee cultivation in Tanzania. In addition to the historical powerhouse regions in the North, coffee is now also grown in the southern areas of Ruvuma and Mbeya/Mbozi. The most significant Southern expansion of coffee growing occurred in the 1970s and 1980s, encouraged by two projects supported by European backers. In an ironic twist, today, 75 to 85% of Tanzania’s total coffee production comes from farms in the south, marking a notable shift in the industry’s landscape.