Catherine Bashiyamba gently stroked the branches of her coffee trees, which she had nurtured from seedlings, anxiously searching for the first fruits of her three years of cultivation. A smile spread across Bashiyamba's face as she grasped the small coffee cherries. This farmer had never grown coffee in her village in Western Equatoria, South Sudan, but now she hopes that a rare, climate-resilient coffee variety can help lift her family out of poverty.
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03-04, 2025"I hope to send my children to school so that they can become pillars of the future," said Bashiyamba, a mother of 12 children. The Excelsa coffee, discovered in South Sudan more than a century ago, is attracting the attention of cash-strapped locals and the international community due to the coffee crisis triggered by global climate change. Major coffee-producing countries are struggling to cope with drought and unstable climate, leading to crop reductions, and coffee prices have soared to their highest levels in decades, prompting the entire industry to seek solutions.
Experts say that drought forecasts from Brazil, the world's top coffee producer, indicate that this year's harvest could decline by about 12%. "History tells us that sometimes the world doesn't give you a choice, and many coffee growers are now suffering from climate change and facing this dilemma," said Alan Davis, head of coffee research at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Excelsa coffee may play a key role in adapting to climate change.
Excelsa coffee, native to South Sudan and a few other African countries including Congo, Central African Republic, and Uganda, is also grown in India, Indonesia, and Vietnam. The tree's deep roots, thick leathery leaves, and stout trunk enable it to thrive in extreme conditions, such as drought and high temperatures, where other coffees cannot survive. It is also resistant to many common coffee pests and diseases. However, it accounts for less than 1% of the global market, far behind Arabica and Robusta, the world's two most consumed coffee varieties.
Experts say that Excelsa coffee must prove its viability in large-scale cultivation to fill the market gap caused by climate change. Unlike its neighbors Ethiopia or Uganda, oil-rich South Sudan has never been known as a coffee producer. British colonists once planted Robusta and Arabica coffee, but decades of conflict forced people to leave their homes, making agriculture difficult, and most planting activities ceased. Coffee trees require regular care, such as pruning and weeding, and take at least three years to bear fruit.
Earlier this month, during a visit to Nzara County in Western Equatoria State, considered the country's breadbasket, residents recalled their parents and grandparents growing coffee, but many of the younger generation had not grown it themselves. Many are familiar with Excelsa coffee but do not realize its uniqueness, nor do they know its name, simply calling it "big tree," which is usually taller than Arabica and Robusta varieties, the latter of which are often pruned into shrubs or hedges. Excelsa coffee trees can grow up to 15 meters tall but can also be pruned shorter for easy picking.
Coffee made from Excelsa coffee is sweet and, unlike Robusta coffee, has flavors of chocolate, dark fruit, and hazelnut. It is more similar to Arabica coffee but is often less bitter and may have a lower body. "There is so little known about this coffee, we feel like we are at the very front edge of uncovering it, we are learning every day," said Ian Patterson, general manager of Equatoria Teak, a sustainable agriculture forestry company that has been operating in South Sudan for more than a decade.
The company has been conducting Excelsa coffee trials for many years. Preliminary results are encouraging, and the company says that the trees are able to withstand high temperatures better than other varieties. The company is also working with communities to revitalize the coffee industry and expand production. Three years ago, it provided seedlings and training to about 1,500 farmers, including Bashiyamba, to help them grow coffee. Farmers can sell the coffee back to the company for processing and export.
Many trees are beginning to bear fruit for the first time this year, and Patterson said he hopes to export the first batch of nearly 7 tons of coffee to specialty shops in Europe. By 2027, coffee could inject about $2 million (A$3.2 million) into the economy, and large buyers such as Nestlé have also expressed interest. But he said that production needs to triple before large buyers feel that the investment is worthwhile. Developing an industry in an unstable environment like South Sudan can be challenging, and the lack of infrastructure and insecure environment make it difficult to transport coffee.
A truck loaded with nearly 30 tons of coffee must travel about 3,000 kilometers to reach a port in Kenya for shipment. The cost of the first leg of the journey through Uganda is more than $7,500 (A$12,000), five times that of neighboring countries. Attracting investors is also difficult. Although a peace agreement was reached in 2018 to end five years of civil war, sporadic fighting persists. Tensions are particularly high in Western Equatoria State after the president dismissed the governor in February, angering his supporters. When the Associated Press visited Nzara, the main road leading to the town was cut off one day due to gunfire, and people fled their homes in fear of further violence.
The government says that companies can operate safely but warns them to focus on business. "If I am a businessman, deal with my business, don't mix with politics. Once you start mixing your business with politics, definitely there will be confusion," said Alison Barnaba, the state's Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Environment. Barnaba said there are plans to restore old coffee plantations and establish an agricultural school, but details are unclear, including the source of funding. South Sudan has not paid civil servants' salaries for more than a year, and a key oil pipeline through neighboring Sudan has ruptured, leading to a sharp decline in oil revenues.
Growing coffee is also not easy. Farmers must cope with fires that spread rapidly during the dry season and destroy their crops. Hunters use fire to scare and kill animals, and residents use it to clear land for cultivation. But fires can get out of control, and there are few measures to hold people accountable, residents say. Nevertheless, for locals, coffee represents an opportunity for a brighter future. Bashiyamba said that she started growing coffee when her husband was injured and unable to help grow enough corn and peanuts to support the family. She said that since his accident, she has been unable to send her children to school or buy enough food.
Another farmer, 37-year-old Taban John, hopes to use his coffee income to buy a bicycle so that he can more easily sell his other crops, peanuts and cassava, and other goods in town. He also hopes to be able to afford school uniforms for his children. Community leaders say that Excelsa coffee is an opportunity for the community to become more economically independent. People rely on government or foreign aid, but when that aid doesn't come, they can't take care of their families. But for coffee to thrive in South Sudan, locals say a long-term mindset is needed, and that requires stability.
Elia Box lost half of his coffee crop in a fire in early February. He plans to replant but is frustrated by the work required and the lack of law and order to hold people accountable. "During the war, people didn't think long-term like coffee crops," he said.
