ARUSHA – Tanzania’s coffee production is expected to go down in the next harvesting season, due to prolonged drought in the key producing areas, the Tanzania Coffee Board (TCB) has said.

TCB acting director general, Primus Kimaryo, said total coffee output in 2016/2017 coffee year is at an average of 50,000 tonnes, "but this is drop to an average of only 43,000 tonnes during the 2017/2018 period.” Tanzania earned $135 million from coffee exports during the 2015/2016 farming season.

The country’s key coffee producing areas are Arusha, Tanga, Morogoro, Mbeya, Ruvuma, Kigoma, Kagera, and Kilimanjaro.

Xinhua.