Ensuring sustainability: Stakeholders resolve to hinge on agroforestry for coffee sector revival.

It was organised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, through the Support Project for the Revival of the Coffee Subsector, PARF-CAFÉ, in collaboration with Landscape Alliance, and a host of other partners. 

The strategic multi-stakeholder reflection brought together over 50 sector participants including representatives of the sector’s public institutions and regulation, producer organisations and cooperatives, research and higher education, exporters, and finance and investment partners amongst other. 

It served as a platform for the creation of more sustainable conditions, better structured and more attractive coffee revival. The reflections positioned agroforestry as a lever for modernising production systems, strengthening the resilience of farms, improving the quality of planting material and enhancing the economic value of the sector.

Declining coffee production, commercialization

It was revealed during the gathering that the coffee sector, which historically contributed to producers’ incomes, rural employment and Cameroon's exports, has been experiencing a significant decline in performance. 

National production, it was disclosed, is now estimated below 20,000 tonnes annually, a drop from overall production that exceeded 150,000 tonnes in the 1980s and 1990s. 

Also, the sale of coffee produced stood at 11,637 tonnes during the 2024-2025 season, which only slightly increase from 10,592 tonnes recorded in 2023-2024. This trend, expert said, reflects the weakening of the productive base and the progressive loss of competitiveness of the sector. 

Country Coordinator pledges for initiative 

In her speech, the Country Coordinator for Landscape Alliance, Ann Degrande, said the organisation, known previously as CIFOR-ICRAF, has been active in Cameroon for about thirty years and remain committed to harnessing the powerful potential of trees, forests and agroforestry landscapes in tackling contemporary pressing challenges of biodiversity loss, climate change, food security, livelihoods and growing insecurity.  

In the context of declining coffee production and marketing, Degrande posited that adopting innovative approaches that improve productivity, strengthen the resilience of farms and preserve ecosystems has become imperative. Noting that the effective integration of agroforestry avails a unique opportunity for the coffee sector revival mission. 

“The sustainable revival of the coffee sector can only succeed if it is based on a common vision and collective action,” Degrande said, before stressing that: “Agroforestry allows us to build a more productive, more resilient coffee sector that is more respectful of our natural heritage”.

She also pointed that by investing in high-performance agroforestry coffee systems today, is in a way investing in food security, biodiversity conservation, the fight against climate change, and ensuring the well-being of future generations. 

“By combining trees with coffee crops, it makes it possible to improve soil fertility, reduce erosion and land degradation, create a microclimate favourable to production, increase the resilience of farms to climate hazards, contribute to biodiversity conservation, and diversify producers' sources of income thanks to forest and fruit products from associated trees,” she painted. 

Enter NCCB Managing Director

The Director General of the National Cocoa and Coffee Board, NCCB, Michael Ndoping, said in reviving the sector, stakeholders must adopt the right approaches towards respecting the environment and market demands. 

“The workshop on agroforestry is showing us another track on how to address the problems of coffee growing, the recovery of coffee through agroforestry, which takes care of not only the planting material, the environment, but also the market,” Ndoping pointed.

While acknowledging the role of international cooperation in reviving the sector, the NCCB boss appreciated the efforts international partners like FAO, GIZ, and Landscape Alliance whose expertise has been helping to relaunch the Coffee sector and solving problems in the rural world.

Agroforestry to restore productivity

The MINADER Secretary General, Mbong Grace Annih, closed the deliberations on behalf of the minister. She praised the conduct of the discussions which highlighted both the challenges facing Cameroon's coffee subsector and the opportunities offered by agroforestry to restore productivity, protect biodiversity, strengthen climate change resilience, improve coffee quality, and diversify producers' income. 

"As we work towards revitalizing this strategic sub-sector, it is essential that our deliberations translate into concrete and effective solutions," she said. 

The MINADER scribe highlighted that the proposed agroforestry model will not only improved planting materials, but also market access mechanization, traceability systems, and innovative financing arrangements which form the basis of practical and coordinated interventions.

She also encourage stakeholders to maintain the spirit of collaboration in order to the recommendations of the workshop into measurable results for the entire coffee value chain. 

“I am confident that the outcome of this workshop will contribute to building a greener, more competitive and more resilient coffee sector for Cameroon,” she assured. 

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3953 of Wednesday October 28, 2026