Yesterday an Immigrant, Today the Heart of the Economy – The History of our Coffee

Arabica Bourbon coffee from the island of La Réunion, even today a favourite coffee species among Kilimanjaro farmers, was introduced by missionaries to the region around 1890. The excellent geographical and climatic conditions soon ensured worldwide fame and the term “Kilimanjaro coffee” became a synonym for outstanding quality.

At first only grown on plantations, Arabica coffee was soon embraced by the enterprising Chagga tribe. Today it is a central economic factor and an integral part of every small scale farmer’s “shamba”.

In 1973 the government made a radical decision to nationalise all private plantations and to hand them over to village cooperatives. The following decades saw an ever accelerating decrease in production until an almost standstill was reached in the early Nineties.

A couple of years later the government began to lay the foundations for a new beginning by promoting a long lasting partnership between private investors and village cooperatives.

Between 1999 and 2003 Kilimanjaro Plantation approached four village cooperatives in order to sign long-term lease agreements for eight neighbouring estates. These were merged into the area that is Kilimanjaro Plantation today. The cooperatives use the annual lease payments to maintain and enhance their social structures (schools, hospitals, water supply etc.). On top of that Kilimanjaro Plantation offers hundreds of jobs which provide a regular income in a rural area. The increase in individual buying power also steadily improved the villages’ economical infrastructure (shops, service providers), and the new jobs have helped to reduce migration into cities, once again providing a great benefit to social structures.