Angola targets the international coffee market

Coffee lovers all over the world have long sought the beverage produced in Angola. A quarter of a million tonnes of this original Angolan black gold were produced annually in the 1970s. This was halted by civil war, but today, after almost 20 years of peace, Angola is recovering, and two Angolan businesses are once more growing into the international market. Their objective is to elevate Angola back to the top tier of coffee exporters globally. In order to do this, the businesses Café Cazengo and Fazenda Vissolela are developing in Angola's traditional coffee-growing regions.

One of the most dynamic producers in the agricultural heartland east of the capital Luanda, according to researchers, is Café Cazengo. Quiculungo is one of the major cities in this region of coffee.

The sales director at Café Cazengo, Camila Paula, notes that Quiculungo was primarily developed around coffee because during colonial times, coffee was what drove Angola's economy. Camila Paula hails from the world's largest producer of coffee, Brazil. In the early 19th century, a Brazilian established Angola's first commercial coffee plantation.

However, Mr. Miguel, an Angolan whose family had been cultivating coffee for centuries before Angola's battle for independence, founded Café Cazengo. He founded the business in 2010, and 500 coffee growers today provide the raw material for him. The company has a website and can sell its coffee worldwide, although the majority of its production is exported to the United States.

The 500 producers of Café Cazengo are among the 25 000 smaller farms that supply the majority of the nation's supply of coffee. The remainder is produced by about 500 larger commercial farms. Camila claims that Café Cazengo collaborates with growers to increase output and enhance their quality of life. They even have a partnership with an Angolan higher education center that aids in the formalization of cooperatives among coffee producers.

A joint EU-UN program that aims to expand the private sector and diversify Angola's primarily oil-based economy is also providing assistance to producers. A major factor in it is agriculture, which accounts for roughly 13% of the nation's GDP.

One of those major commercial farms is Fazenda Vissolela. 1000 of its 5000 hectares are used for its coffee project. These coffee crops, according to Guilherme Diniz, its general manager, "are all centered on specialty coffee." Every Arabica coffee type is anticipated to receive 100 hectares of land, with 80% of these coffees being exported.

By 2025, Fazenda Vissolela hopes to raise production to 5400 tonnes from 2160 tonnes in 2021.

Why is coffee from Angola so good?

Angola is the perfect location for the crop for a variety of reasons. Diniz emphasizes that altitude is necessary for a high-quality coffee bean. Fazenda Vissolela is located between 1200 and 1300 above sea level, which, he continues, "is great for quality."

Angola benefits from geography and natural resources that are important for coffee cultivation, such as an availability of water to aid in irrigation and terrain that permits mechanization, in comparison to other regions of the world. According to Diniz, all of this results in "improved productivity."

The managing partner at Fazenda Vissolela, Énio Miranda, claims that this productivity has already resulted in a respectable turnover for the company this year. Next year and in the years to follow, he plans to double this turnover. "The start of a promising future is this year. (...) Coffee is the future, it was our past, and it will now be Angola's future ", he clarifies.

Numerous analysts, like the French-based agricultural research organization Cirad, see enormous potential. Researchers from Angola, Argentina, Portugal, France, and Portugal participated in their EU-funded study. The team's agroecology researcher is Cécile Bessou. According to her, "there is significant government motivation to revitalize this sector with the assistance of some locals, both from local government and from foreign institutions like the European Union." She calls these people "energetic" and "really striving to be innovative" to restore the "previous splendor" of Angola's coffee industry.

The production of commercial coffee beans in Angola increased by 34% from 2019 to 2020. Angolan coffee is coming back for good because to the nation's cutting-edge agricultural techniques and a flavor that is hard to resist.