The Kilimanjaro Native Cooperative Union (Kncu) is a cooperative federation in Tanzania. Kncu is one of the oldest coffee cooperatives recorded in existence for the coffee trade. Kncu was founded in 1930 by Sir Charles Cecil Farquharson Dundas who was a district commissioner of the Moshi in Tanzania while the 1920's. The first coop members were the indigenous farmers of the Chagga tribe living on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's top mountain. Sir Charles popularized the coffee production and successfully established the cooperative concept as a means of mutual cooperation and growth.
Kncu is owned by more than 60,000 farmers from an estimated 90 former cooperatives growing coffee in the Kilimanjaro region.
Cup Coffee
- Kncu has gone straight through many changes over the years, particularly while governmental intervention when the club would lose its independent status.
- Eventually, Kncu regained its independence from the government and established itself as an independent, self-governing body again.
- Kncu is subject to government controls but it operates as an independent coop buying and selling coffee on profit of the small scale farmers. The coffee production is sold primarily to the Fair Trade movements which means Kncu coop members receive a higher price than selling straight through other channels.
- Kncu's smooth, mild beans are considered to be among the finest in Africa. Kilimanjaro coffee has unique hints of blackcurrant and citrus.
- Coffee growers plant coffee bushes near banana trees because the beans mature more moderately under the shade of the banana trees. Natural sugars also increase in the coffee and they help enhance the natural flavor. Kncu farmers care very much for their coffee: it is their livelihood and it helps them reserve their traditions straight through the economic benefits they accumulate from the beans.
- With the occurrence of weather changes, decrease in the water availability for irrigation and some unpredictable rainfalls, Kncu farmers are involved about planning for the hereafter and adjusting to changes they may need to make in their planting and harvesting processes.
Kncu runs a society based tourism scheme to bring in extra income to the small scale coffee farmers in the area.
- The scheme is called Kahawa Shamba.
- It features a few dwellings built in the Chagga tribe style in the beautiful Kilimanjaro region.
- Nothing de facto compares to watching Mount Kilimanjaro in the starlight and in the rising sun light, seated on the ground outside a tribal hut.
- Near the visitor huts there are gardens where women of the scheme grow fruits and vegetables.
- As part of the Kncu exertion to make Kahawa Shamba a great collective relations attraction for the tribe and the Kncu coop, the women who look after the tourists have been trained in allowable food preparation and sanitation at a local technical college.
- The taste includes trips to around attractions such as waterfalls, local towns and natural spots.
- A big highlight of the excursions is a visit to a local coffee farm where visitors learn how coffee is grown and produced.
Kncu is a very prosperous coop that balances the commercial aspects of the coffee trade and the interest in tourism very well to its members' advantage. Kahawa Shamba also helps reinforce to the local society members the value of their traditions and culture. The evidence is the great interest in them that tourists from all over the world demonstrate regularly.
So, ready for a cup of tasty Tanzania Peaberry North Highlands?
From the Bean to the Cup - A Coffee Cooperative From Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
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