Prachanda Man Shrestha1
Abstract
Coffee, introduced in Nepal in 1998 B.S, has been recognized by the farmers as an income generating high value crop in the mid hills region of central and western development region
Reliable data on coffee production is not available. Though the productivity is low the quality of coffee produced in Nepal has potential to make a place in the international niche market. Several international traders have shown interest to buy Nepalese coffee as specialty coffee. Domestic market of the Nepalese coffee is limited to major cities and is entirely dependent on the number of tourist arrival. When cost of production and return is calculated, coffee farmers have been getting almost 200 percent higher prices as compared to the cost of production of one kilogram of dry cherry.
Lack of support in the areas of dissemination of production and processing technologies has resulted in low productivity and poor quality of coffee. The producer groups and their association need support in the area of capacity building to market coffee collectively for higher profit.
The decreasing trend in price of regular coffee in the international market necessitates production of Nepali coffee to address the need of the niche market (specialty coffee). Production of known varieties at defined altitude with organic inputs under shade condition. If appropriate support services are provided, coffee sub-sector could be developed into a sustainable industry as a source of foreign currency benefiting the majority of the producers who are small resource poor farmers.