Coping with coffee on the coast

This farmer had 5 500 coffee trees on 2,5ha, twice the usual planting density, and believed that South Africa could ultimately produce enough coffee to meet local demand.

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One of the most costly aspects of a coffee plantation is labour for picking the berries and for pruning or cutting back the trees. But a former Tanganyika (now Tanzania) coffee farmer is confident he has found the answer to part of this problem, although his scheme is a little unusual. 

First, Bob Kotowicz of Wolmar Farm, Munster, on the Natal South Coast, has the distinction of establishing probably the most southerly coffee plantation in South Africa, now that the coffee trials in the Transkei have been ploughed up. He is also farming coffee right on the coast, despite unfavourable weather. The chief problem is wind. He is also growing coffee in a frost zone, which could be detrimental to the crop and trees. However, he stresses that the frost is not severe enough to cause much damage, though he has experienced one severe black frost.

Kotowicz has 20ha of bananas, all Cavendish variety, but his heart is in coffee, and he is determined to make a success of his coffee venture on the coast.