• First place in natural robusta, third for women producers
• Robusta dominates output at 10,377 tonnes in 2024-2025

Cameroonian roasters won two awards at the African Taste of Harvest 2026, held Feb. 4-6 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on the sidelines of the annual African Fine Coffees Association (AFCA) conference. The National Cocoa and Coffee Board (NCCB) announced the results on its website.

The NCCB said Cameroon took first place for natural robusta. The country also placed third in the “natural robusta produced by women” category. The Board said the award reflects the growing role of women in Cameroon’s coffee sector and the quality of the country’s robusta.

The awards come as coffee processing in Cameroon is evolving differently from cocoa processing. Unlike cocoa, where processing is largely dominated by foreign firms, coffee roasting remains predominantly driven by domestic players. Locally processed products have regularly earned international recognition, the NCCB said.

For example, at the fourth edition of the Awards for Coffees Roasted at Origin, held annually in France by the Agricultural Products Promotion Agency (AVPA), Cameroon won five of the nine prizes awarded. The awards were presented on April 4, 2018, in Yaoundé, during the International Cameroonian Coffee Festival, held alongside the sixth General Assembly of the African and Malagasy Robusta Coffee Agency (Acram).

Cameroon’s international prizes relate primarily to the robusta variety, which is more widely grown in the country than arabica. According to NCCB data, robusta production reached 10,377 tonnes in the 2024-2025 season, compared with 1,260 tonnes for arabica, an increase of 287 tonnes from the previous season. The Littoral and West regions remain the main producing areas, accounting for 71.6% of coffee cherry volumes marketed.

BRM, with Business in Cameroon