Egypt’s project to cultivate coffee beans locally has shown promising results after 40 years of trials. Egyptians consume around 70,000 tons of coffee annually, costing the country approximately USD 340 million (EGP 16.4 billion) in imports. According to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS), Egypt’s imports of non-roasted or decaffeinated coffee reached USD 167.6 million (EGP 8 billion) in the first 10 months of 2023, a 1.9 percent increase from the previous year. The project, spearheaded by the Horticultural Research Institute (HRI) of the Ministry of Agriculture, aims to significantly reduce import costs through local production, saving millions of dollars and reducing reliance on foreign coffee. The preliminary trials for coffee cultivation were successful, reported Ayman Hamouda, director of the HRI. After years of scientific experiments, coffee beans were successfully yielded in regions such as Qalyubia, Beheira, Ismailia, Assiut, and Minya, with seven to nine kilograms yielded per tree, marking a significant breakthrough. Currently, trials are held in the Qanater Charity area, located north of Cairo. Historically, Egypt’s climate has been considered unsuitable for coffee cultivation. However, recent climate shifts are being utilized to the project’s advantage…
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Source: egyptianstreets
