CQI began its work in Tanzania through the regional USAID programs RATES and COMPETE in 2003, managed by Steve Walls at Chemonics. Most of the work was coordinated with EAFCA because of the regional nature. There were several early Coffee Corps assignments from 2003-2006 which included an agronomic and processing assessment by a Brazilian volunteer. In 2006, Tanzania hosted the annual EAFCA conference and CQI sent multiple volunteers to the event to provide cupping training and barista competitions.
Tanzania held it’s own annual barista competition until 2012 when funding was an issue. Recently, the program has been revived and competitions continue. CQI has sent over 30 volunteers to Tanzania and hosted 5 Q courses and managed the annual taste of harvest (AFCA) multiple times.
Over the years, the Tanzania Coffee Board (TCB) has been CQI's main partner, but unfortunately they don't have many resources which makes them very grant dependent. TCB has signed In Country Partner agreements with CQI on 2 occasions and recently again in 2014, but there has not been much activity because of the lack of grants to offer them assistance. CQI has written several comprehensive proposals jointly with TCB to get project funding and have visited USAID Tanzania jointly every year since 2012, but there is still no funding available. Through AFCA, CQI maintains their involvement in the annual Taste of Harvest.
Currently Tanzania has 4 active Q Arabica graders. More have been trained in the past but both Q Arabica and Q Robusta graders are in need of calibration to hold their certifications.
