From Timor leste, Airnaro
Taste like Cocoa, Fudge and caramel
The coffee industry in Timor-Leste is slowly being rebuilt after being devastated along with most of the country’s agricultural base in the conflict. Progress has been, slow with assistance from government agencies and NGO’s dealing with over thirty years of disrepair. Coffee accounts for over ninety percent of non-oil exports and valued at USD$17.8 million in 2014. The backbone of Timor-Leste’s coffee are the sixty seven thousand households who grow coffee, over forty five percent are estimated to rely on coffee as their main source of income.
One of the most respected facets of Timor-Leste coffee apart from taste is the fact the majority of the coffee available is organic, an unintentional but marketable consequence of the growers not being able to afford fertilisers or pesticides. Advisory bodies are working hard to introduce practices that maintain the organic status but increase yield and taste quality. It’s a long road but one that the growers and co-operatives are embracing.