Cameroon seasonal coffee exports at drops by 1730 tonnes in March

Cameroon’s coffee exports this season stood at 1,946 tonnes in March, a sharp drop from 3,676 tonnes last season, according to data from the Cocoa and Coffee Inter-professional Board (CCIB) on Wednesday.

Robusta exports in March were 975 tonnes up from 194 in February but down from 1,735 tonnes last March, bringing the total since the start of the 2013/14 season to 1,765 tonnes, down from 2,773 tonnes for the same period a year ago.

Arabica shipments in March stood at 84 tonnes up from 9 tonnes in February, bringing the seasonal total to 181 tonnes, a decline from 803 tonnes over the same period in 2012/13.

Most operators blame the drop in production on the weather. Some say it is due to illegal exports to neighbouring Nigeria and the poor state of roads used to transport the crop from remote areas to the economic capital and port city of Doula.

Cameroon is one of the few African countries to grow robusta and arabica coffee. The robusta season runs from December 1 to November 30. The arabica season is from October 1 to September.

Robusta coffee is grown in seven regions including Adamawa, centre, east, littoral, south, southwest and west, while arabica coffee is grown only in the northwest and west.