Liberia: Liberian Coffee’s Golden Years, c.1860 to c.1880s: Lessons for Today?
By William Ezra Allen, PhD, Professor of History, UL
The Daily Observer reported on February 5th., 2024, that Liberia’s designated Agriculture Minister, Dr. J. Alexander Nuetah, promised to “Reintroduce Liberica Coffee” to the prewar period when large quantities of this global beverage were exported. An ardent coffee drinker myself, I was thrilled about Dr. Nuetah’s announcement and thought back to Liberian coffee’s origin in the 1800s. This period may be considered Liberian coffee’s golden years: it rose from obscurity to international fame. Here is a brief review of this golden age. Probably we can glean relevant lessons for today.
During the golden age of Liberian coffee, it’s unclear whether productivity, the revenue it generated, or other indicators, surpassed any subsequent era. Evidence from the historical record is fragmented, and this is not the space for such comparative analysis. Moreover, the golden years lasted barely two decades. After taking off around the 1850s, Liberian coffee cultivation and export peaked from roughly 1860s to 1880s and collapsed by the turn of the century. Still, despite its brief moment in the sun, the rise of Liberian coffee was remarkable. For this, Liberian coffee lovers must remember 1876.
That year Liberian coffee received two important international distinctions. First, it was reported in April 1876 that the London Linnean Society, renowned for naming plants and animals, designated Liberia coffee Coffea liberica. One can say that the new scientific nomenclature literally took the plant from the bush to the town, as coffee was originally gathered in the wild. Prior to the mid-1800s, some farmers sent samples to acquaintances in the United States. Sustained coffee cultivation probably began in the 1840s, and by the 1860s, the export of coffee was well underway. So, the scientific name came decades after the wild berries’ arrival in America.
The second recognition occurred some time from May to November 1876 during the United States Centennial International Exhibition in Philadelphia. Reportedly, 10 million people visited this six-months event where products from around the world, including the newly adorned Coffea liberica, were displayed. Liberia’s exhibition was installed in Agricultural Hall by that country’s Resident Commissioner in Philadelphia, Edward S. Morris. Coffea liberica received the US Centennial Diploma Awards For “Superior Coffee.” The citation compared it favorably with the world’s top coffee species, namely, “Rio…and Java or Mocha Coffee.”
Demands for Coffea liberica soared, as the world’s top coffee growers (e.g., Brazil) ordered thousands of plants and seeds. The United States, unknown for coffee production, considered cultivating Coffea liberica. In Liberia, cultivation and export peaked. But by the turn of the century, the once thriving Liberian coffee industry had collapsed. What went wrong? It seems that the source of the problem lay largely outside Liberia. Due to the 1890s global economic recession, coffee sale declined. Consequently, price dropped precipitously, e.g., from 25 cents a pound in 1880 to 6 cents by 1898. Also, Liberian farmers lacked the new technology adopted by foreign competitors to improve product quality. To illustrate, most Liberian farmers placed coffee berries on the ground in the sun to dry (“dry-method”). Among other things, the prolonged drying period on the ground produced unpleasant taste because the berries tended to “develop mold,” etc. But competitors in Latin America used the more expensive “wet-method,” drying the beans quicker in special equipment and thus producing a more flavorful aroma. Another cause was the fungus (hemileia vastatrix), the “rust,” that devastated coffee plants around the world. Initially, Coffea liberica was said to be resistant to the fungus. But it too was susceptible to the fungus. Finally, labor scarcity combined with the other problems to doom the coffee industry. And faced with falling price, Liberian coffee farmer Alonzo Hoggard complained that Liberians were “getting the lowest price…while paying the highest prices for goods” [imports]. For references, contactallenwe@ul.edu.lr.