Building small farmers and sustainable village communities by increasing coffee production makes sense in South Africa.

Coffee is the second biggest commodity traded globally after oil, and South Africa is not even listed globally as a producer. This information comes out of the farmers weekly, http://www.farmersweekly.co.za/index.php?p[IGcms_nodes][IGcms_nodesUID]=da803a3f67b81bbecddcfd61f0a6115f
, and raises some interesting questions regarding the lack of coffee production in South Africa.

At 100ha, the current portion of land dedicated to coffee is quite ridiculous given that coffee originated on the African continent where climate, soil and high unemployment and poverty make the region ideally suited for coffee growing and processing.

Coffee is a labour intensive crop that would benefit areas of high unemployment like the Wild Coast (old Transkei). It is also ideal for inclusion in sustainable rural village projects as it provides work as well as income for the community.

South Africa also has an advantage with none of the major diseases that affect coffee plants except leaf rust. farmers weekly goes on to say that the gene bank currently contains rust resistant varieties that augurs well for organic coffee production.

The Sicambeni sustainable village project near Port St Johns is an ideal location for coffee growing with soil that is unspoilt by commercial farming exploitation leaving a vast potential for organic yields.

There are moves to increase land dedicated to coffee crops and to assist and train small farmers in Mpumalanga and Kwazulu-Natal but more needs to be done to bring the smaller communities into the game possibly via a cooperative style arrangement.

With the potential for increased jobs as well as export possibilities it makes a great deal of sense to focus on building up this microscopic local industry and providing employment, home grown South African coffee for the local market as well as increased potential in export earnings.