Café Sans Frontières: Timor Leste

Coffee has been grown in Timor Leste since the 17th century and is the country’s main export good.

Coffee Heritage Project travelled to Timor Leste, located on one of the easternmost island in Southeast Asia, to check out coffee origins of Hibrido De Timor (parent of Catimor coffee and Sarchimor coffee) and to meet the tireless farmers who grow Timorese coffee.

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Coffee Heritage Project visited coffee farms and met with coffee growers in Timor Leste’s coffee growing regions of Railaco, Leorema, Bazartete, and Liquiça. Coffee Heritage Project was also thrilled to have a coffee tasting session with an independent specialty coffee roaster working directly with coffee growers from Timor Leste’s Letefoho region.

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All in all, the quality of Timorese coffee has a high potential among high-quality coffee markets around the world. But like other coffee communities in developing countries, agricultural development in terms of on-farm investments are needed to make significant improvements in growing and processing Timorese coffee.

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Coffee Heritage Project believes that agricultural development is likely to have a huge positive impact in improving the lives of Timorese coffee growers.

Coffee Heritage Project interacts with coffee growers in different regions to share coffee and share Coffee Heritage Project’s own coffee growing experiences.

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To all Timorese coffee growers we met on our trip, obrigado!

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