(Business in Cameroon) - As with all commodities, due to an unfavourable international environment, the farm gate prices for Cameroonian coffee dipped during the 2015-2016 season, we learned during the launch of the 2016-2017 crop year in Mengang, production area in the Central region.

Based on the end of season official statistics, the Robusta variety suffered the least from the international situation, as producer prices only dropped by FCfa 5 per kilogram. The highest drop was registered on the Arabica variety, with the price per kilogram decreasing by FCfa 261 in 2015-2016, compared to the previous season.

This substantial drop does not call for optimism with regards to the revival of the coffee sector in the country. Indeed, with the international prices for this product dropping for some years now, Cameroonian producers are showing an increasing disinterest in this product over time. To the point where the different initiatives taken by the cocoa-coffee professional organisation to renew the producers’ interest in this crop have not yet yielded convincing results.

BRM