Mwa Ona,
May 28, 2007
Mwa Ona means “good morning” in Chindale which is the language spoken here in Misuku Hills. It is a quiet tuesday morning here in Misuku Hills after a heavy rain last night. In most part of Malawi it is the dry season but as I am in Misuku Hills, which is 2000m above sea level, occasional rains continue into the dry season. The landscape here is actually quite similar to British Columbia, only the sun is much hotter. Even when the air temperature is fairly low the heat of the sun is still intense. There has been a fair bit of rain so far, which is uncommon at this time of year. Last year the rains stopped in April, but it is the end of May and is still raining...
Here in Malawi I am working with the Mzuzu Smallholder Coffee Farmers Trust, which is a union of 5 coffee producer cooperatives in Malawi. Specifically I am working with the Misuku Coffee Cooperative Society in Misuku Hills, Chitipa District, Malawi. The Chitipa District is one of the northernmost districts in Malawi and it borders Tanzania. Apparently, it is only a one-day walk from Misuku Hills to the nearest Tanzanian community.
My job with Engineers Without Borders and with the Misuku Coffee Cooperative Society is to assess 3 of the cooperative’s coffee pulperies and make recommendations on how the pulperies can improve the disposal of their wastewater. Proper disposal of wastewater is of importance because people downstream depend on this water. The Mzuzu Smallholder Coffee Farmers Trust, which handles the secondary processing and marketing of the coffee produced by the Misuku Coffee Cooperative Society, is concerned that poor wastewater disposal will hamper their ability to market coffee in Europe, the United States, and Japan.
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I have spent some time touring coffee farms as I toured 13 coffee pulperies last week. Coffee farming is definitely a difficult and labour-intensive task. Coffee is a small tree that is planted by farmers. About 3 years after planting the coffee trees will begin to produce berries, and will continue to produce coffee for about 15 years. Coffee trees can produce berries for longer than 15 years with good management. The coffee grown here is arabica coffee (the other type of coffee, which is of lower quality, is robusta) and as arabica grows best at high altitudes the coffee is grown on some very steep slopes. Steps to control erosion such as terracing and contour cropping are used, but erosion is still a problem. Steep slopes also mean a lot of climbing and descending. After fertilizing and taking steps to manage coffee pests such as the white stem borer, the coffee will begin to ripen. However, it is generally not ripe all at once so the coffee cherries need to be carefully selected to ensure that only ripe cherries are picked. This is important in order to guarantee coffee quality. Coffee quality is key, as higher coffee quality means a higher price. The coffee must then be transported to the coffee pulpery within a day after it is picked, and it must not be transported in a plastic bag, or the coffee cherries will begin to ferment which reduces coffee quality. Once at the pulpery the pulp of the coffee cherry is removed from the seeds (which is the coffee bean), the coffee beans now separated from the pulp are then fermented for 48 hours and then soaked in order to remove a layer around the coffee bean known as the mucilage. The coffee is dried, and then transported to Mzuzu (320km south of Misuku) for further processing. There are a number of quality control steps at every stage of production. The way that coffee gets from the field to your cup is by no means a simple process!
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Malawi so far has lived up to its name as “the warm heart of Africa” as the people here in Misuku have been very friendly and helpful so far. For example, the trail I take to and from work is one of a complicated interconnected network of trails, and while I am now learning them I have got lost a few times. Everytime that has happened, people I have come across been very happy to redirect me, or insist and leading me the rest of the way home. I am learning the trails now though.
Things are going well here in Malawi. Take care and I will see you all again in 3 months.
I do not have much access to email here, so if you need to reach me feel free to phone me at +0112658140893. If you do phone two things to keep in mind is that it may take a few tries for you to get through and coverage here is poor so it is common for calls to be dropped midcall, and Malawi is 8 hours ahead of Saskatchewan.
Preston