Organically Produced Coffee beans from Nepal
JAN 26, 2012, KATHMANDU – Nepal is not a famous coffee producing country in the world but its organic production has huge market demand amid very low production.
Nepal started producing this golden corps just few years ago and introduced in the major market of europe and Asian countries with its aroma of taste and quality.
The country’s coffee output falls woefully short of demand on the international market.
According to the National Tea and Coffee Development Board (NTCDB), the annual demand for Nepali coffee is more than 4,000 tonnes while production stands at 400 tonnes.
President of the Federation of Nepal Coffee Entrepreneurs Shyam Prasad Bhandari said traders had been seeing encouraging demand for their products from abroad in recent days.
With increasing demand, international agencies and local people have been attracted to investing in the sector. “With aid from INGOs, coffee production is projected to reach 8,000 tonnes within a decade,” said Bhandari. INGOs like Helvetas, Winrock and PACT Nepal have been supporting coffee farming.
There are more than 26,000 people engaged in coffee production. Syangja, Palpa, Lalitpur, Ramechhap, Ilam and Gulmi have been identified among 40 coffee growing districts as the main producers of coffee in the country.
Good prospects have led to expansion of coffee farming. According to the NTCDB, the area under coffee cultivation increased to 1,752 hectares in 2010-11 from 1,630 hectares in 2009-10.
Similarly, increasing domestic production has resulted in a decline in imports. Annual coffee imports plunged to Rs 12.51 million from Rs 84.40 million three years ago.
Executive director of the board Raman Prasad Pathak said that demand for Nepali coffee was on the rise due to its better taste and production system which does not use chemicals.
Despite massive demand, the country exported a mere 279.76 tonnes of coffee worth Rs 93.08 million in the last fiscal year. However, the figure is more than double compared to the previous year when exports amounted to 120 tonnes worth Rs 67.5 million.
