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Tanzania: Promoting young talents
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Tanzania: Protecting the environment
‘The young people are incredibly proud to be part of the project. They are really keen to get started right away and plant as many trees as possible, because now they see the income they can make from harvesting their own coffee.’
Martha Kimboi, Project Manager at Coffee Clubs Tanzania
Our project aims and activities
Training young farmers
In Tanzania, it is common for children to take over their parents’ coffee farms – often simply due to a lack of alternative options.
We support the next generation, helping them to develop the skills needed to grow coffee in the future, through our ‘Coffee Clubs’ in the Mbeya and Mbozi regions. Here, the future generation of farmers learn the tricks and techniques of greener coffee farming. Students can put their knowledge to the test right away in the coffee fields run by the school. And selling the coffee also provides the schools with an additional source of income, for example for new school books.
Working together for better prices
Coffee clubs are just one of our initiatives in the region. We also work with local partners to help coffee farmers set up farmer groups, which produce coffee following the latest sustainability standards, such as those required for Rainforest Alliance certification. Since 2017, more than 2,500 small-scale farmers have already come together to form 22 groups.
By forming these groups, farmers are then able to sort their harvested coffee based on quality and fetch better prices as a result. The members of the group also provide each other with support, such as when someone needs a helping hand or a piece of agricultural equipment. Many groups have also engaged agricultural experts to provide farmers with advice on their own land and to teach them more environmentally friendly farming methods.
Project milestones
Project launch
Our project is launched in partnership with City Coffee in Tanzania.
Coffee Clubs begin
The first Coffee Clubs are opened, with three schools and 50 young people.
Rainforest Alliance certification
The first groups of farmers are awarded certified status by the Rainforest Alliance.
Expansion of activities
The coffee clubs are extremely popular, with almost 400 young people now taking part. We have also been able to certify over 1,500 farmers under the Rainforest Alliance. In additon, additional fruit trees are planted to enable young people to eat healthier, both at school and at home.
The first harvest from the Tanzania Coffee Clubs
More than 400 students now participate in the Coffee Clubs and have produced about 2 tonnes of coffee this year.
The harvest could be doubled
Due to the increasing number of participants in the Tanzania Coffee Clubs, the harvest could be doubled and is currently over 4 tons of coffee.
First project coffee is created
For the first time, a rare special edition - Kahawa Skuli - is developed from the coffee of the Tanzania Coffee Clubs and sold in selected branches in mid-May. Currently, 668 students are active in the coffee clubs.
Second edition „Kahawa Skuli“
For the second time there is a rarity special edition of the coffee from the Tanzania Coffee Clubs: Kahawa Skuli will be sold in selected Tchibo shops in Germany from mid-July and for the first time in Austria, in all Tchibo shops.
‘I’m incredibly proud!’
Martha Kimboi doesn't need long to explain what it is about her work that makes her so happy: “We were expecting 50 young people – today there are around 900 students. 640 are currently there and 260 are so-called graduates, but they continue to be looked after and are still part of the coffee clubs. I am incredibly proud to be able to train and support the next generation of coffee farmers!”
Martha is a qualified teacher and is responsible for coordinating the coffee clubs in southern Tanzania, of which
there are now seven.
As part of this project, young people are given a part of the farm by their parents. After school, they learn the skills they need to grow coffee in an environmentally friendly and efficient way in the Coffee Clubs – from using natural fertilisers to ensuring that water and soil are properly protected.
In the 2021/2022 harvest, over 4 tonnes of coffee were harvested from the Tanzania Coffee Clubs. This represents the future of coffee in the Mbeya and Mbozi region, where young coffee farmers are learning a more modern way of growing coffee and adapting and improving practices that have been handed down for generations. This project has resulted in a coffee with a unique aromatic taste of blackberry and dark chocolate. The project coffee will be sold in selected branches. We are particularly excited about the start of sales.
A year later, after the first edition of this coffee was such a great success, we are very pleased that we can offer our rarity special edition “Kahawa Skuli”, the school coffee from the Tanzania Coffee Clubs, again the following year. As Tchibo, we have bought the entire quantity of the 2023/2024 harvest: 8 tons of green coffee produces approx. 6.95 tons of roasted coffee. This special coffee will be available exclusively in just over 100 German branches from mid-July 2024 - and this year also in Austria for the first time. We are very pleased about the (second) start of sales of this special – and limited – specialty coffee.
