Myanmar’s coffee gets upgrade with funds

YANGON — In southeastern Myanmar’s Kayin State, Naw Elizabeth Chaw is optimistic about the future after learning how to process quality coffee.

She has been studying new techniques for coffee processing after attending training conducted by the country’s agriculture department as part of China’s Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Special Fund coffee project in Myanmar.

“We previously cultivated and produced coffee in traditional ways. Now, I know how to grow, process and produce quality coffee for export,” Naw said.

Myanmar’s agriculture department, which has been implementing the LMC coffee project, has conducted trainings and distributed agricultural equipment to coffee farmers in the country.

The two-year coffee project, which started in August last year with plans to be completed in December next year, was being implemented with the approved budget of $440,000 from the LMC special fund.

As part of the project, 6.47 hectares of pilot coffee farms were established in Mandalay and Magway regions and Chin and Shan states.

Myint Swe, director of the Coffee and Seasonal Crops Division at the agriculture department, is supervising the project.

“As coffee is a high-value crop, we are making effort to improve coffee production and quality so that it becomes our main export crop,” Myint said.

Khun Myo Nyunt, a coffee farmer from Shan, is keen to expand coffee plantations in the region to replace poppy cultivation.

“Most of the farmers in the region were once poppy growers,” he said, adding that the LMC coffee project would help facilitate the eradication of poppy cultivation.

“My fellow coffee farmers and I received earth augers, pruning tools, refractometers and moisture meters,” he said.

At present, there are some 20,234 hectares of coffee plantations in Myanmar, about 15,380 hectares of which are Arabica and 4,856 hectares are Robusta.

The Southeast Asian country produces over 9,000 metric tons of coffee yearly and is exporting its Arabica coffee to the global market, according to Myanmar’s agriculture department.

“After attending the coffee processing technology training, I’m eager to grow and produce coffee using the technology,” said Zir Than Hnuni, a coffee farmer from Chin.

“I’m from Rih that has a heartshaped Rih Lake. We are establishing a 5-acre (2 hectare) collective coffee farm near the lake, planning to operate a coffee shop that will attract tourists in the post-COVID period.”

Under the LMC project, the agriculture department conducted trainings for 1,736 coffee farmers in processing technology and provided them with agricultural equipment.

The project’s objectives are to upgrade the processing technology and export quality of coffee production to achieve competitive advantage in the international market, and to improve the income and livelihoods of coffee farmers.

“I’m grateful to China for supporting Myanmar’s coffee production sector with the LMC special fund project,” Myint said.