Smallholder coffee farm rehabilitation

in East Africa

16th February 2018

Carole Hemmings
TechnoServe has trained over 270,000 farmers in East Africa

Farmers Trained by TechnoServe, 2009 – 2017

Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania

280,000 270,700 farmers

260,000
trained
240,000
220,000
200,000
180,000
160,000
140,000
120,000
100,000
80,000
60,000
40,000
20,000
0
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

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Rehabilitation of coffee farms requires a package of
interventions but rejuvenation and pruning are key

Typical Farm Practices Good Farm Practices

Rejuvenation & Rejuvenation &

Pruning Pruning

Weeding Weeding

Good nutrition Good nutrition

Shade Management Shade Management

Integrated Pest & Integrated Pest &

Disease Management Disease Management

TechnoServe | 3
A typical tree in Ethiopia has never been rejuvenated;
tree production is less than 1kg of cherry per tree

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A typical tree in Kenya has been rejuvenated but not in a
systematic way; tree production is 1- 2kg of cherry per tree

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Rehabilitation can effectively produce a “new” tree, but
with a well established root system

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Kenyan farmers can rejuvenate without the tree going
out of production; 1 or 2 old stems are kept while new
stems grow

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Reducing main stems from as many as 10 to 3 can have
a large impact on productivity

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Yields achieved by the demonstration plots illustrate the
potential impact of rehabilitation on old trees

Coffee Tree Yields

Kilogram Cherry Per Tree

+712%
9.50

1.17
Farmer Average Demonstration
Before Training Plot After 2 Years

Note: Average farmer before training 2010/11 harvest, Central Kenya (335 farmers). 9
Demonstration plot - 18 plots, 18 central trees harvested
In 2017 Esther Mwangi harvested 3,225 Kg of cherry
from her 600 rehabilitated trees, worth about $2,200

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In 2017 Esther Mwangi harvested 3,225 Kg of cherry
from her 600 rehabilitated trees, worth about $2,200

Esther Mwangi Production

Kilogram Cherry
3,225

757
581 508

2014 2015 2016 2017

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In Ethiopia the old trees have to be stumped

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Trees quickly regrow with three new stems selected;
one year after stumping trees will flower

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By the third year stumped trees are producing 2.6 Kg cherry
per tree compared to less than 1kg for old coffee

Coffee tree yields of trees stumped in February 2015

Kilogram cherry per tree
2.60

0.89

0.50

0
Control (Old 2015 2016 2017
Coffee 2017)

Note: 2017 Harvest. Average of 21 stumped plots and 21 old coffee tree plots, Sidama B Cohort 2015. Nespresso 14
After two years of training, 25% of farmers have stumped
compared to a baseline of only 2%

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Banke Elias has stumped 500 of her 2,000 tree coffees,
which produced 3.5kg of cherry each; Banke is now
advising other farmers to do the same

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THANK
YOU
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