(Business in Cameroon) - On May 11, 2021, in Cameroon’s production areas, the prices of a kilogram of robusta coffee ranged between XAF525 and 575. According to data compiled by the sectoral information system SIF elaborated by the National Cocoa and Coffee Board (ONCC), those prices were the highest the commodity was being sold at within a year.

Indeed, in May 2020, this commodity was sold at about XAF300 in production areas. The about XAF225 year-on-year rise in the said price is due to growing local demand while production has been dropping gradually.

According to the Cocoa and Coffee Inter-professional Council (CICC), because of the dropping coffee prices recorded over the past decades, several Cameroonian farmers stopped growing it. They rather turned to food crops deemed more profitable. Meanwhile, the demand is not dropping. Instead, it keeps growing due to international consumers' preference for Cameroonian coffee.

Let’s note that although the production of this commodity has been declining in recent decades in Cameroon (due to farmers’ decreasing interest in this cash crop), local coffee brands are regularly awarded international prizes.

BRM