BURUNDI’S coffee revenues, the central African country’s top hard currency earner, fell 26 per cent for the 2011/12 crop on lower output though higher prices helped, the industry regulator said on Tuesday.It collected $61.2 million versus $82.8 million earned in the 2010/11 season, regulator ARFIC said.Sales volumes fell more sharply, by more than 40 per cent, to 13,594 tonnes from 24,000 tonnes.“Global prices were better, but domestic earnings were affected by a weaker production,” ARFIC said in its report.It attributed the fall in output to the crop’s cyclical nature and lower yields from old trees.The country’s goal is to reach an annual production of 40,000 to 50,000 tonnes per season in the next five years by replacing ageing bushes with a newer, higher yielding variety.ARFIC predicts output from the 2012/13 harvest at 29,000 tonnes with estimated earnings of $61.4 million.
