Burkina Faso Paves a Path for Processing Coffee at Origin

As part of a broader push for economic sovereignty, West African nation Burkina Faso is embracing a 100% domestic coffee value chain—where everything, from farming to roasting, happens within the country.

BY DANIEL MURAGA
BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE

Featured photo courtesy by Brent Ninaber

What to know:

• Following government initiatives to stimulate their agricultural industry, West African country Burkina Faso is advocating for a 100% domestic coffee value chain
• Coffee processing plant Natobe Zanga is helping to spread 100% Burkinabe coffee to the people of Burkina Faso, ensuring coffee is grown, processed, and roasted within the country

We speak often of origin countries and the coffee that’s grown there—but how often is coffee processed, roasted, and consumed right at the source?

As part of a broader strategy to boost their agricultural sector and gain more economic sovereignty, West African country Burkina Faso has launched a groundbreaking initiative to move away completely from foreign coffee and process 100% locally grown Burkinabe coffee domestically, to be distributed throughout Burkina Faso and beyond.

Drawing inspiration from recent initiatives in Ethiopia, processing plant Natobe Zanga is spearheading the movement. The leaders involved aim to strengthen Burkina Faso’s local industries, create more job opportunities for surrounding communities, and empower a new generation of coffee producers.

Located in Burkina Faso’s capital city, Ouagadougou, the Natobe Zanga facility sources coffee from the Samadeni region of Bobo-Dioulasso and produces two tons of high-quality coffee daily, providing an affordable, domestic alternative to foreign brands.

This state-of-the-art facility offers high-quality coffee at accessible price points compared to the coffee from Burkina Faso’s neighboring countries. In addition, the facility promotes skill development amongst locals—especially the youth.

Coffee farming in Burkina Faso

While Burkina Faso may not be a major name in the global coffee industry, the country is developing a supply chain focusing entirely on regional resilience and processing local coffee to harness domestic economic value.

Historically, the country has focused mainly on other cash crops such as cotton and mining gold, but it is now aggressively growing and processing its own coffee to drive economic sustainability, according to The Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC).  

Coffee in Burkina Faso is mainly grown in the country’s southern and southwestern regions. The country mainly produces the Robusta variety amid Sudano-Sahelian zone’s challenges—including shallow soil depths, intermittent droughts, and little nutrient levels.

However, the country has recently begun engaging in targeted agronomic initiatives and regenerative agriculture, to help local coffee cooperatives improve their crop yields and soil shape. 

The spread of Burkinabe coffee

Thanks to Natobe Zanga, 100% Burkinabe coffee is now available on supermarket shelves throughout the city of Bobo-Dioulasso, marketed through the Café Dia brand. These coffee beans are sourced strictly from Burkina Faso, and are also processed and roasted within the country. This means that the product goes through the entire coffee chain domestically—giving smallholder farmers and local coffee enthusiasts the opportunity to taste locally grown coffee, a rarity in many origin countries.

“Café Dia’s (coffee) is purely Burkinabe coffee,” says Hamidou Ouedraogo, Director General of Natobe Zanga, “and we had the courage and audacity to set up the very first coffee processing plant here in Burkina Faso.”

According to Fousseni Kindo, the Director of the High Council for Communication (Conseil Superieur De La Communication, CSC), the initiative is riding the momentum of a presidential initiative pushing for Burkina Faso’s economic sovereignty. “We wanted to associate with this initiative because we believe it aligns perfectly with the current policy of the progressive revolution for the people,” Fousseni said during the launch of the Natobe Zanga facility this past January. “This undertaking contributes to our resilience—to the conquest of our economic sovereignty.”  

Promoting domestic production & consumption

As part of a broader push toward their self-reliance, Burkina Faso has totally stopped all coffee imports, relying wholly on their local coffee industry and selling within the Alliance of Sahel States (AES). Café Dia’s coffee is currently sold throughout the city of Bobo-Dioulasso and will soon be available across Burkina Faso and beyond.

By ensuring Burkina Faso’s entire coffee value chain remains within the country, the Natobe Zanga facility is creating much-needed domestic employment opportunities and guaranteeing that quality coffee is always available and affordable to the country’s citizens.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Daniel Muraga (he/him) is a communications expert, researcher, writer, and editor based in Kenya with over 10 years of experience in the industry. His mission is to highlight Africa’s contributions to the realms of science, technology, innovation, culture, food, and related fields. He has done extensive research and written widely in the coffee niche for Sprudge Media, as well as in related areas for Life & Thyme and CQ Researcher, among others. When not writing, he is always outdoors communing with nature. You can find him on Facebook, X, and LinkedIn.

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