• Coffee output and farmgate prices rose during the 2024–2025 season
• Government expects firm prices to continue amid strong global demand
• Long-term production decline remains a key challenge

Cameroon will launch its 2025–2026 coffee season on January 16, 2026, in Batidoum, a production hub in the East region. Ahead of the event, Trade Minister Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana released an official statement on January 13 reviewing the previous season, which formally ended on September 15, 2025 for arabica and on November 15, 2025 for robusta.

According to figures published by the minister, the 2024–2025 season recorded gains in both volumes and prices paid to farmers. Marketed production rose from 10,592 tons in 2023–2024 to 11,637 tons in 2024–2025, an increase of 9.86%. Producer prices followed the same upward trend, rising from CFA2,375 to CFA2,854 per kilogram for arabica, and from CFA1,500 to CFA1,959 per kilogram for robusta, representing increases of 20.16% and 30.6%, respectively.

The government expects the new season to benefit from similar conditions, particularly on prices. According to the trade minister, the campaign opens “in a context of higher international prices, driven by strong demand against constrained supply, notably affected by climate change.” He said government action during the season would focus not only on consolidating recent gains but also on boosting local processing and consumption, in line with the National Development Strategy 2020–2030 (SND30), to better leverage opportunities offered by the African Continental Free Trade Area.

A sector still in decline

Despite the recent rebound and the positive outlook for 2025–2026, Cameroon’s coffee sector has been in decline for several years. Despite support programs launched by the government and the cocoa and coffee interprofessional council (CICC), the country has yet to reach its targets of annual output of 125,000 tons of robusta and 35,000 tons of arabica. These goals, set under the cocoa and coffee recovery plan adopted in 2014, were initially expected to be met by 2020.

Industry players cite several factors behind the prolonged slowdown, including the impact of climate change and declining interest among farmers discouraged by historically low farmgate prices. The combined effect has weighed heavily on national output. While Cameroon produced about 130,000 tons of coffee in the 1990s, output fell to less than one-tenth of that level in the 2024–2025 season.

The decline in production contrasts with the growth of local processing. Unlike the cocoa sector, which is largely controlled by foreign multinationals, coffee roasting in Cameroon is dominated by domestic operators. Their products regularly receive international awards, helping position Cameroonian coffee as a niche export with global appeal.

Still, Cameroon remains a marginal player in global coffee trade. With a market share of just 0.1% between 2018 and 2022, the country ranked 54th worldwide by export volume, according to the Competitiveness Committee under the Ministry of Economy. Data from the think tank show that Cameroonian coffee is mainly exported to Algeria, France, Belgium, and Portugal, which together accounted for 62.9% of exports in 2022.

Brice R. Mbodiam, Business in Cameroon