The Hope Project
Bags of roasted coffee from the Hope Project are available in our online shop.
About the Hope Project
The founders of the Hope project have long had a passion for top quality coffee. They had heard from ‘old-timers’ that the coffee in Mbeya Region had once been considered some of the finest in East Africa. But by 2000, the only sign of that was the small production of 300-400 tons from the few remaining coffee estates in the area, such as Utengule.
Although Mbeya Region was by now the largest producer of Arabica coffee in Tanzania, having overtaken Kilimanjaro, it was seen as a bulk supplier of ‘fruity’ second grade coffees of little interest to speciality roasters.
However the founders knew that the coffee could be much better if only it was properly processed after harvesting.
Inspired by the world-renowned African coffee expert, Mr John Schluter, they decided to establish central pulperies in several villages in the four producing districts of Mbeya – Mbozi, Ileje, Rungwe and Mbeya Rural. They knew from experience gained in Kenya that well-processed cherry coffee from smallholder farmers could be of the highest quality.
The founders set up a company called Lima Ltd (‘Lima’ means ‘Farm!' in Kiswahili) in partnership with the Dutch firm G. Bijdendijk and with the assistance of the Dutch government through the PSOM programme.
In 2003, 13 central pulperies were built and started to operate. A mill was also constructed to process the coffee. Lima built a further 10 central pulperies in 2004.
From these 23 central pulperies, Lima is now able to reach at least 90,000 farmers, all of whom receive an individual receipt for the quantity of cherry which they supplied and the payment received. These receipts are important to make it easier to trace coffee back to the farmer and village and to ensure that the farmer can receive his or her second payment.
The second payment had been common when co-operatives were alive but had faded out with liberalisation. Lima was the first major private company to reintroduce the second payment. This ensured that famers who delivered cherry early, often at lower prices to those achieved later in the season, did not lose out. They knew that they would receive a second payment which would bring them up to the level paid at the season’s end.
This is not only important to ensure fairness, it also encourages farmers to bring their cherry when it is ripe for harvest and not to believe that the only way they could achieve higher prices was by processing it themselves.
The results were encouraging. Several internationally renowned users of top quality coffee began to buy both through the Tanzanian auction and then directly from Lima when that was permitted.
Part of the project was established as organic, in the remote District of Ileje. This was certified by IMO and has subsequently become a significant supplier of organic washed Arabica from Tanzania.
In 2007, the opportunity to take over and develop a similar project in Ruvuma Region. Lima decided to accept this new challenge and now operates a further 20 central pulperies there, producing the renowned ‘Ruvuma’ coffee.
In 2008, Lima purchased a record 10,000,000 kgs of cherry resulting in some 1,600 tons of clean coffee. This made Lima the largest single supplier of washed Arabica coffee from Tanzania.
Lima has been certified by the Café Practices programme of Starbucks and is currently undergoing certification by Utz Certified.
