How do cropping practices influence coffee quality? A study from South-Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo

Rational - In many countries, coffee is a cash crop for smallholder farmers. Coffee quality – defined here by physical and organoleptic attributes – is an important driver of coffee price and is affected by coffee variety, pedoclimatic conditions, farmer practices and post-harvest processing. Adapting cropping practices might be the cheapest and fastest way for farmers to improve coffee quality and thus potential revenue. This requires a better understanding of influences of cropping system's components and management on the quality attributes of coffee. Method - In South Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo, 24 farmers from the territory of Kalehe and 30 from the territory Kabaré were interviewed and their cropping systems described. Samples of damage-free ripe coffee cherries were bought and processed in a nearby washing stations (wet-processing). Each sample was cupped by 6 cuppers following the SCA protocol. Granulometry was measured. The quality attributes were analyzed in relation to the farmers practices and fields characteristics. All farmers used Kabaré 16 cultivar alone or mixed with Catuaï. Fields were located between 1470 and 1950 meters above sea level. To account for soil and climate differences, fields surveyed in Kabaré and Kalehe were analyzed separately. Factorial analysis of mixed data was used to explore the relations between cupping score, granulometry and farmers' practices. Results - Analysis could not link granulometry or cupping score to farmers' practices in Kalehe fields. In Kabaré territory, the 2 first dimensions of the multivariate analysis explained 46% of the data variability. Higher cupping scores were associated with the presence of understory crops (casava or bush beans), weeding, suckers' elimination and with coffee plants that were not stumped the year before. The three first practices suggest a more intensive management by farmers, while the effect of the later could derive from physiological causes. Higher proportion of large beans (≥15/64) tended to be associated with the absence of mulching and shade trees. It suggests that shade tree management and mulching practices could be levers to improve granulometry. Conclusions & Perspectives - These preliminary results will be complemented by further analysis of farmers practices, as well as yield and soil characteristics. Rather than identifying one practice yielding high cupping scores, this work aims at identifying combinations of practices and conditions associated with cupping scores. This knowledge could be later used to develop recommendations for farmers and identify farms/fields with higher quality potential to make micro coffee lots, with higher payment potential for farmers.