Nepal moving into coffee and out of povety

Coffee plantations have started appearing in Nepal as farmers switch away from traditional maize

The historical tea-drinking nation of Nepal is seeing an agricultural shift as farmers begin to move into the world of cultivating and growing coffee plants. With the countries notorious steep hillsides, previous crops such as maize are being stripped out in place of the sturdy arabica plant.

The slopes of this Himalayan region are tough and unforgiven, but many people in this area have no other possible job other than turning the land into farms. Not only is the landscape extreme, so is the weather. Thankfully coffee fields are growing nicely in this environment.

Healthy Profits for Nepalese farmers

Rural farmers are not only benefiting from exporting produce from a plant that is quite niche in the region, but also keen profits. The traditional staple crop, maize, kept farmers in poverty as they struggled to turn a small profit on seasonal yields. Coffee however, not only requires no expensive fertiliser  but also see’s a healthy income that is 3 times larger than with maize.

Last year Nepal exported over a $1M worth of coffee to the rest of the world, predominately China and Russia. A large amount however, stays within Nepal at the capitol, Kathmandu. Not only are the crops in the fields changing, but with this new crop blossoming in the markets, coffee houses are opening throughout Kathmandu as the Nepalese begin to adopt espressos and cappuccino into their way of life.

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