Vietnam expects to export 1.7 million tons of coffee this year

Less than 10 percent of coffee growing areas in Vietnam process products with added value. Coffee trees that are 20 or more years old account for up to 30 percent of the total cultivated area. Of this, some areas have low yields of less than 1.5 tons per hectare.

In addition, there are over 40,000 hectares of trees that are stunted. As such, the total area of coffee plants that needs to be replaced or converted is 140-160,000 hectares in the next five to 10 years.

Do Nguyen Anh Tuan, director of IPSARD (The Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural development) said that Vietnam’s coffee industry has faced many challenges, including climate change, water sources, price fluctuations and poor market information.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), Vietnam will need to recultivate 120,000 hectares of coffee in the following years. One hectare of coffee can bring 2.5 tons of coffee beans.

Experts have warned of the decrease of 300,000 tons of coffee output when implementing the recultivation plan. There will not be harvesting within three years of recultivation. 

In theory, one hectare of coffee recultivation for three years will lead to the loss of 7.5 tons of coffee. Each year, the total coffee output decreases.

The question now is what farmers need to do to keep coffee output stable and maintain export. Tuan Anh said that the PPP (private public partnership) model among farmers, the state and businesses needs to be established.

The link would bring benefits to all three parties. Businesses would have stable material growing areas. The State can drive coffee production to a key sector with sustainable development. And farmers will have stable markets.

The recultivation in Central Highlands, except Lam Dong province, is going slowly because the process requires huge capital, while the risk is high. Farmers have little capital, and find it difficult to access loans.

The coffee industry also has to compete with other crops which can bring higher economic value. Farmers are now growing more pepper, durian and avocado, especially after the government ordered the forest closure.

Vietnam expects to export 1.7 million tons of coffee this year, earning about $3.5 billion, according to the Vietnam Coffee & Cocoa Association (Vicofa). The global market share of Vietnamese coffee soared from 1 percent in 1991 to 17 percent in 2017.

RELATED NEWS

Vietnam’s premium beans exported abroad, while local coffee quality remains poor

"Pure roasted coffee" movement kicks off in Vietnam