The coffee sector plays a vital role in the East African economy, contributing significantly to exports and economic growth. Countries such as Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda are among the largest coffee exporters in the world. However, coffee cultivation is extremely vulnerable to climatic changes, which threatens the livelihoods of large sections of the population in East Africa.
The Liberica coffee plant is grown by a number of farmers in Uganda due to its perceived resistance to drought and pests. However, its quality, especially the flavour of the coffee, has so far been poor due to unsuitable harvesting and post-processing steps. By optimizing production, harvesting, and processing methods, the quality of Liberica coffee can be greatly enhanced, unlocking its economic potential and improving the livelihoods of farmers in East Africa and beyond.
The ProLiCo project analyses various harvesting and post-harvesting processes along the entire value chain with a view to optimisation potential so that a high-quality Liberica coffee export product can be created in future. Farmers are then supported in implementing the knowledge gained in order to improve the quality of their Liberica coffee. Research results and developed strategies will then be made available to the public so that other farmers can diversify their coffee production, improve the quality of their coffee product and make their production more resilient to climate change. This gives farmers access to the speciality coffee market and provides them with additional income.
The project is implemented by PIK and the Uganda Coffee Farmers Alliance (UCFA) with funds received from the German-African Innovation Award (GAIIA). The 'German-African Innovation Incentive Award' is an instrument of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) to strengthen innovative research in Africa and to translate research results into practical solutions that benefit African societies. The award was received by UCFA and PIK for research conducted as part of the AfriValue project.
Contact: Prof. Dr. Christoph Gornott and Sophie von Loeben
