Malawi Coffee Beans

Malawi began producing coffee in 1891, when English colonists first introduced the crop. Then, around 1930, missionaries brought coffee seeds to the north. Smallholder farmers bought those seeds and resold coffee parchment to the same missionaries.

The first cooperatives arose during the 1950s, thanks to financial support from the British government, which provided coffee plants to local farmers. In 1957, the Misuku Coffee Growers Cooperative Society was established, which exported coffee to Tanzania through Moshi.

In 1964, Malawi gained its independence and new societies were founded by the government. Some of these societies soon proved to be unsuccessful, but Malawi’s coffee production persevered, focusing on mass production and new marketing strategies, while constantly finding ways to optimise quality.

1999 was a pivotal year for Malawi’s coffee industry, when the Smallholder Coffee Farmers Trust (SCFT) was founded. This society supported smallholder farmers through development programmes aimed at coffee production and crop diversification. The highest level of development was reached with the introduction of Catimor, a hybrid coffee variety that is climate-resistant and high-yielding.

Today, Malawian coffee production is mainly based on the intensive cultivation of big plots of land, with only 20% of its coffee coming from smallholders.

The main varieties grown in Malawi are Catimor, Geisha, SL28, Agaro, and Bourbon. In recent years, coffee producers have been encouraged to cultivate the finest Geisha and SL28 varieties, which are more profitable.

The flowering season is from December to February, and the harvest season is from April to September, when coffee beans are finally harvested with the picking method. Exports take place from August to April for a total of around 20,000 coffee sacks per year, which leave from the port of Durban in South Africa.