TANZANIA – Tarime District – Medium Roast

Tarime is in the northern part of Tanzania, between the Serengeti and Lake Victoria. This remote area of the country is relatively self-governed by the local social groups and tribes, and most of the farm holders own between 2–8 hectares of land, growing coffee on about a quarter of their property (0.5–2 hectares). They also grow other cash crops as well as subsistence crops.

While coffees from this region were historically processed as Naturals due to the terrain and dry environment, Coffee Management Services noticed the potential for high-quality Washed lots and installed a washing station at Muriba in 2013. The mill offers farmers the opportunity to deliver their coffee in cherry form, which can result in quicker payment as well as increased space on their land, as it reduces the need for drying surfaces as well. Coffees are received, sorted, and de-pulped, then fermented underwater for 12–15 hours before being washed and dried on raised beds for 7–15 days.

Like other coffee growing regions in East Africa, it seems likely that coffee may have been known as a garden crop grown for barter and consumption (chewing rather than brewing) as early as the 16th century. German occupiers introduced commercial cultivation at the end of the 19th century and coffee became an exported cash crop. Following WWI, the British took control of the region and the estate model was firmly established for coffee. During the transition years from British “protection” to independence, coffee farming cooperative began to emerge and would eventually dominate coffee production after formal independence in 1961. Today, 95% of coffee farmers are smallholders, growing coffee on less than 5 acres of land.