(Business in Cameroon) - The 2016-2017 coffee crop season will be launched in Cameroon on 22 February 2017 in the town of Mengang, a production area in the Central region of the country. This launch will then officially end the 2015-2016 coffee season, whose results still do not call for optimism in terms of revitalising the coffee sector.

Indeed, reveals the memo from the Minister of Commerce on the new season, the production sold in 2015-2016 peaked at 24,500 tons, in slight increase compared to the 23,865 tons of the previous season. The farm gate prices are also in line with the drop in international prices for commodities, Minister Mbarga Atangana pointed out.

The good news rather came from local processing, which took an “impressive leap” during the last season, reaching 3,786 tons, against only 448 tons processed in 2014-2015.

This increase in local processing can be explained by the intensification, throughout 2016, of promotion campaigns on the consumption of Cameroon coffee, organised for example by the cacao-coffee professional organisation.

Brice R. Mbodiam