Poor market, govt neglect hamper coffee farming in Plateau

Coffee farming undergoes peculiar, different stages and procedures, according to a coffee farmer, Yakubu Davou Kagga, of Chigwi village in Vwang District of Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State. Kagga who said that he had spent over 17 years in coffee farming, elaborated the stages of planting, harvesting and marketing of the product.He […]

Coffee farming undergoes peculiar, different stages and procedures, according to a coffee farmer, Yakubu Davou Kagga, of Chigwi village in Vwang District of Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State. Kagga who said that he had spent over 17 years in coffee farming, elaborated the stages of planting, harvesting and marketing of the product.
He said the first stage is for a farmer to start from the nursery bed where he first prepares and get the right seed, find an empty space of land and barricade the area to deny domestic animals like goat and sheep access, adding, “Another reason why you have to start from the nursery stage is for you to water the seedling as well as constantly monitor the growing process of the produce.”
While making the nursery, the next thing is to make ridges in the selected area to sow the seed, Kaga said, adding, “The farmer needs to dig holes of about three feet deep and two and half feet wide before laying the seed. The farmer also needs to mix the soil with local manure and the seed before closing the hole. After the planting process, you make a small ditch like a channel at the edge of the planted seed where you put water. Then it comes to the daily watering of the plant which is twice a day, morning and evening, for about three months, because the seed takes almost three months before it grows up from the ground. We always make the nursery first before taking the seedling to the farm. The farmer must also weed the nursery area because weed has negative effect on the plant.”
Kagga said the second stage is for the farmer to uproot the coffee plant from the nursery site and transplant them in the farm. He explained: “Here the process requires you to dig the holes based on the sizes of the plants dislodged from the nursery and arrange them in a sequential order by providing a gap of about four feet from each other. The idea of providing the gap is for the branches of coffee tree to have enough space to grow and to give the farmer that little space during the harvesting period. The gap created by the farmer is also for you to have an easy access to water the plants during dry season.”
Kagga said that after the transplant of the coffee tree, the farmer needs to constantly water the plants for one year and subsequently only water when you like because whenever the tree grows its branches the challenge of watering reduces.
He said: “You know, coffee trees require water to grow fast and also reap good coffee, that is why whenever we experience a long rainy season you can also harvest twice at the end of the season or if we experience unexpected rain the coffee trees  react and you notice signs of its fruits”.
The third stage, he said: “Is the harvesting period which varies based on the outcome of the season. It is usually at the end of the rainy season although, or in the dry season, depending on the management of the farm, because sometimes you can also harvest your coffee in the dry season. We use our hands to remove the crop from the tree using bucket to gather them and put in a local pounder to remove the cover (husks) and later transfer the crop into the sack. We usually employ women to work on daily basis to assist us during the harvesting period and it is my wife who coordinates their work and arrange for their payment.”
Kagga who is also the Chairman of Building Materials Vegetable Market Association in Jos South LGA said that the major challenge they are facing in coffee farming is lack of coffee market, saying: “A good number of farmers in the state have stopped farming coffee because no people to buy the crop. After all the suffering and expenditure, you don’t have market to sell the produce, and when you take the crop to the market we sell at a loss. In the past, some white men used to come and buy coffee at good prices. At that time we sold one mudu at N1000. We sold 100kg at N80, 000 but currently we sell a measure at N200 to N300 and 100kg at N20,000 to N25,000.”
He complained further about the poor market for coffee: “We don’t have a good coffee market here in the state, that is why many people are out of the system. People that are coming around to buy the crop were buying it at pitiable rate and many farmers were discouraged and they quit the system coupled with the numerous challenges, including pest control and buying of manure and other logistics. We are trying to get a good market for the crop since we have been in the system for long and wecannot destroy our coffee trees.”
He spoke of peculiarly long lifespan of coffee trees, saying, “You need to know that a coffee can last for more than hundred years. I have colleagues who inherited a coffee tree that are over ninety years. We will continue to make efforts to find a good market of the produce.”   
Another reason why the business is not thriving in Plateau State is lack of government involvement in the system, he added, buttressing his point, “We the coffee farmers in the state came together and had several meetings with government officials but without any positive outcome, they only pledge to support the farmers as well as having a good market for the crop but up to this moment there has been no response from them. If the government in the state can support coffee farming, it will go a long way in boosting the economy of the state and reduce unemployment drastically but the reverse is the case. We are left alone to farm the crop and look for its market.”
Kagga said Plateau is home to some of the best coffee products, explaining, “Our coffee here on the Plateau is one of the best and qualitative brands around the world. Our coffee here is different from that of the eastern part of the country. We don’t use fertilizer for our coffee. We only use manure and whenever you put fertilizer the taste of the crop would change and quality of the crop would reduce.”
He said the growing and quality of coffee in Plateau State is helped by the state’s unique calm weather and good soil conditions, and expressed the optimism that if government would show enough concern for coffee production in the state, things would get better.
“We are appealing to both the local and state governments to come to our aid and support coffee farmers and other farmers so that coffee farming can thrive and contribute to the development of the state and country,” he said.
On her part, wife of Mr Kagga, Kumbu Yakubu, said that she and her husband had been in coffee farming for a long time. She explained some of the challenges in processing the crop, adding, “In coffee farming, challenges start from the nursery stage where it requires you to find and prepare your manure during the planting stage and watering of the seedling daily. After the plant has grown in the nursery, removing the plant is difficult before taking it to the farm for the transplant. During the harvesting time, removing ripe coffee from its tree is difficult; we use our hands to peel the crop from its tree and put the bucket down so that the coffee would drop inside. The reason why I say it is difficult is that it would take you two days to fill a 100kg sack”.
She spoke further on how processing of coffee is done: “We invite women who work on contract basis to help us harvest the crop and we pay each person N700 or N600 per day. Another challenge in processing the crop is pounding to remove the husk of the coffee using local pounder which those employees help in removing before having the real coffee you need”.
Kumbu who also processes locally made coffee illustrated how she makes product for the consumption of the people in their locality, saying, “I process the crop by frying the coffee, after frying I take the fried coffee to the grinding machine to grind the crop to become powder and I sell one measure (mudu) at N1000 per mudu.”
She also complained of marketing problem, saying “the problem of market sometimes discourages me from doing the local ones but some prospective users sometimes order for certain quantity and I process and sell to them. I also process the coffee for our family use”.
Kumbyu added that the major challenge in processing the locally made coffee is market. She explained, “Many people prefer the company processed coffee but those who use the local ones are few but they know the difference and based on experience they always go for it.”
She said, however, that coffee farming has been good for the family: “We really benefit from the coffee farming and its business. We have been paying the school fees of our children and supporting our means of livelihood. I want to encourage other farmers to engage in coffee farming, especially women. Though the system is difficult, the farming can last for the rest of the farmer’s life. My appeal is to the government at all levels to support coffee farming and facilitate good market to the farmers”.        
Attempts to get government officials to state the position of government on help for coffee farmers failed. Officials who insisted that only the Commissioner of Agriculture, Stephen Barko, could talk said the commissioner was not in office but he will be around this week.