Cameroon’s robusta coffee exports during the 2024–2025 season were largely concentrated in three markets: Italy, Algeria, and Belgium. According to campaign data published by the National Cocoa and Coffee Board (ONCC), the three countries together accounted for 60.47% of total robusta shipments over the period.
Italy remained the leading destination, absorbing 25.54% of Cameroon’s robusta exports, extending a pattern observed in recent seasons. Algeria ranked second with 21.12%, while Belgium followed with 13.8%, based on ONCC figures.
Robusta, the most widely cultivated coffee variety in Cameroon, continues to underpin the national coffee sector. Production reached 10,377 tons in the 2024–2025 season, up by 287 tons compared with the previous campaign, according to the ONCC.
The Littoral and West regions remained the main production basins, accounting for 71.6% of coffee cherries marketed nationwide. The ONCC also reported a noticeable increase in production and commercialization volumes in the East and Adamawa regions during the season.
By contrast, arabica coffee remains marginal due to less favorable climatic conditions. Output stood at 1,260 tons in 2024–2025, an increase of 758 tons year on year. Production remains concentrated in the Northwest and West regions, where agroclimatic conditions are considered more suitable for arabica cultivation.
Despite the recent uptick in production for both varieties, Cameroon’s coffee sector has yet to recover its former scale. The country continues to fall well short of the targets set under the 2014 cocoa and coffee recovery plan, which aimed for annual output of 125,000 tons of robusta and 35,000 tons of arabica by 2020.
Industry professionals point to a combination of factors behind the persistent shortfall, including the effects of climate change and declining interest among producers discouraged by purchase prices seen as insufficient. The long-term impact on national output is stark. While Cameroon produced around 130,000 tons of coffee in the 1990s, total production in the 2024–2025 season stands at less than one-tenth of that level.
Brice R. Mbodiam
