What are the common coffee varieties in Angola? How should Angolan coffee be consumed?

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Angola's Coffee Industry

Coffee is one of Angola's largest agricultural products.

Until 1973, Angola was the third-largest coffee-producing country under Portuguese control. During the tenure of Eurico de Azevedo Noronha as president of the Angola Institute, Angolan coffee maintained excellent quality until his death in 1973.

Cultivating and producing coffee significantly contributed to the economy of Angola's northwestern region, including Uíge Province. The Portuguese began coffee production in the 1830s, and it quickly became a cash crop. Approximately 2,000 Angolan plantations grew this popular crop, primarily Robusta coffee, mainly cultivated by Portuguese settlers. In the 1970s, Angola was one of Africa's largest coffee-producing countries. However, the civil war following independence from Portuguese rule devastated the coffee plantations, and many coffee agronomists emigrated to Brazil as the coffee plants cultivated on the plantations reverted to wild bushes. Since 2000, restoration work on the plantations has been ongoing, but the investment required to replace 40 years of non-productive plants is estimated at $230 million. Industrial activity in the province is forming with the opening of new roads.

Angola Robusta Coffee

The nation of Angola is renowned for its excellent Robusta coffee, which offers a pleasant neutral taste in the brewed cup. Due to the relative scarcity of this coffee, it's difficult to find tasting notes. This coffee variety has long been popular in Portugal and Spain in southern Europe.

Due to Angola's lack of stability and various issues affecting Angolan coffee farms, this renowned quality has become less consistent in recent years. Current complaints about Angola coffee quality defects include distinctly stale flavors as well as insufficient moisture content and pale yellow coloration of the coffee beans.

If Angola can improve its coffee production and restore consistent quality, then the product has ready-made markets in North America and Europe, but whether the revival of Angola's coffee industry will materialize remains to be seen.

Geographic and Economic Context

The nation of Angola is located in southern Africa, bordering Congo, Zambia, Namibia, and the South Atlantic Ocean. Angola covers an area of approximately 480,000 square miles, about twice the size of Texas, with a population of about ten million people.

Angola's coffee industry was once dominated by large coffee plantations, which accounted for about 70% of the country's annual coffee production. These large coffee farms included coffee processing facilities and were primarily managed by Portuguese settlers.

Many of Angola's large coffee plantations were nationalized after the country achieved independence, and the new farm managers lacked the expertise of the previous management.

Simultaneously, securing sufficient labor became problematic, and inputs for coffee (such as fertilizers) were in short supply, so coffee plant yields decreased significantly.

When many state-owned Angolan coffee farms were privatized in the 1990s, many coffee plantations were subdivided. Farmers encountered great difficulties in restoring the old coffee farms and were also hindered by lack of security due to ongoing civil unrest.

Challenges in Coffee Cultivation in Angola

During the war, many coffee farms were abandoned, some of which are still plagued by landmines today, left unattended, and coffee crops remain unharvested.

Many ancient Angolan coffee plantations also suffer from poor care of the coffee plants, many of which are very old and may be affected by coffee diseases and pests. There is also a lack of banking systems and credit as well as infrastructure to support farmers.

Generally, Angolan coffee is grown organically, but the country's lack of infrastructure and interest means there is currently no organically certified coffee.

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