Farmers Tell World Bank President How their Coffee Incomes have Quadrupled

ARUSHA, TANZANIA, JULY 13, 2006 —World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz met with small-scale coffee growers and TechnoServe staff members in northern Tanzania today to learn how a coffee initiative is transforming the lives of poor rural farmers.

Farmer leaders from KILICAFE, a TechnoServe-assisted coffee association, left their harvest preparations in the morning to speak with Wolfowitz. Mrs. Emmeline Swai, Chairperson of KILICAFE's north chapter, said: "My income has quadrupled since joining KILICAFE, which has allowed me to renovate my house and connect to electricity and fresh water."

Over the past eight years, TechnoServe - with funding from USAID, the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (seco), the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and private donors - has worked with industry leaders to transform Tanzania into one of the world's premium specialty-coffee producers. Targeting the entire supply chain, TechnoServe created a unique "Farmer Business Group" model that helps small-scale growers improve quality, obtain financing, establish contracts with overseas buyers, and ultimately increase profits. TechnoServe also helped establish KILICAFE, a farmer-owned association, and has encouraged government reforms that have lowered farm-gate taxation and authorized premium coffee producers to sell directly to foreign buyers.

KILICAFE supports 102 groups representing more than 10,000 smallholder coffee growers. In 2005, it successfully marketed 1,200 metric tons of coffee, generating more than US$2.5 million in sales. 54 village-based central pulperies and other TechnoServe-championed quality improvement measures have led to a 70 percent price premium for farmers' beans. TechnoServe is currently partnering with the World Bank to help KILICAFE farmers reduce financial risk by adopting price risk-management tools and developing a weather insurance scheme.

"The KILICAFE success is a remarkable story of quality improvement and astute marketing. It is the product of arduous efforts by farmers, and great attention to detail in preparing a top-notch product that delights roasters and consumers in Japan, Europe, and North America. TechnoServe is grateful indeed for support from loyal donors in providing resources to help transform lives, not only in coffee, but in a variety of other crops, spanning Tanzania and the globe." said Thom Dixon, TechnoServe/Tanzania country director.

About TechnoServe: TechnoServe helps entrepreneurial men and women in the developing world to build businesses that provide jobs, income and economic opportunity. Since its founding in 1968, the U.S.-based nonprofit has helped to create or improve more than 2,000 businesses, benefiting millions of people in 32 countries. TechnoServe is currently working to build and expand businesses in Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Swaziland, Uganda, Ghana, Madagascar, Rwanda, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Peru, Colombia, Brazil, Côte d'Ivoire and India. TechnoServe was recognized as one of the world's "Outstanding Social Entrepreneurs" by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship.

For more information, please contact:
Thom Dixon, Country Director, TechnoServe/Tanzania Tel: + 255-27-254-4544; Email: thomas.dixon@tnstanzania.org

Luba Vangelova, Director of Marketing Communications, TechnoServe/Washington, DC Tel: +1 202-719-1302; Email: lvangelova@tns.org