The Production of Colonial Coffee is a change project under the International Training Programme (ITP) supported jointly by UNCDF and the International Centre for Local Democracy (ICLD). The purpose of the project is to improve people’s incomes through increasing colonial coffee productivity per unit area.

This is to be achieved by increasing production of coffee from 1,000 kilograms per hectare to 1,500 kilograms per hectare using improved seedlings, proper crop husbandry and central pulping unit, training farmers on good coffee production practices and marketing, and assisting coffee farmers to access loans from microfinance institutions.

The Kigoma District is located in West Tanzania near Lake Tanganyika. It is estimated to have 244,632 hectares of land that can potentially be used for cultivation, however only 94,266 hectares are being cultivated as of now, which is merely 38% of its potential.

To increase productivity, the expansion of farm areas under coffee cultivation is necessary. Moreover, the project aims to improve coffee quality, provide clone coffee seedlings, train farmers on recommended coffee production practices and marketing techniques, enhance tax collection from the sale of coffee produce and to assure that growers get access to loans from financial institutions.

The primary beneficiaries of the project will be coffee growers who will directly increase their incomes. The secondary beneficiaries will be those gaining employment in coffee farms, including the small merchants who will buy coffee produce and promote coffee marketing in the district. The Tanzanian Government, on the other hand, will collect tax from the coffee products, which will ultimately contribute to the Gross National Product (GNP) at a national level, whereas the district level tax will contribute to district revenue.

The district comprises of 16 wards, 45 villages with a total population of 211,566 and 29,182 farm families, according to the Population and Housing Census of 2012. At present the district has 9 coffee production villages, which include Kalinzi, Matyazo and Mkabogo in Kalinzi Ward, Mkigo and Nyarubanda in Mkigo Ward, Chankele, Mkongoro and Nyamhoza in Mkongoro Ward and Kizenga Village in Bitale Ward.

The project is geared towards improving the social and economic status of the district by creating employment for youth and women, income generation and poverty reduction. It will also empower the community to determine their own development priorities and participation in implementing, monitoring and evaluating development projects.