Ndalatando - Angola expects to harvest more than 8,000 tons of commercial coffee this year, 2,000 tons more than in 2023, said the director general of the National Coffee Institute (INCA), Vasco Gonçalves, on Friday.

Vasco Gonçalves explained that the increase in the coffee harvest is the result of farmers and companies investing more in the production of this commodity, adding that a ton of commercial coffee is priced between two and three million kwanzas on the national market.

He said there has been a noticeable increase in interest among producers to acquire coffee seedlings for replanting, following the government's incentives for producers involved in the revival of high-yielding crops such as coffee, cocoa, oil palm and now cashew.

"We had a past where coffee was cut down to plant beans or cassava instead, but today, on the contrary, it's not the same scenario," he said.

 To address this new reality, the government is developing a project to improve the performance and growth of the coffee value chain called "Mukafé".

The project, which has the capacity to produce 10 million robusta and cazengo coffee plants per year, aims to support the revival of this crop.

Cuanza-Norte will benefit from one million seedlings to support the renewal of coffee plantations this year.

According to the INCA official, Cuanza Norte is one of the three largest producers of commercial coffee in the country, along with Uige and Cuanza-Sul.

DS/IMA/YD/DAN/AMP