Robusta and Arabica varieties were first discovered in Africa. Robusta was discovered growing wildly in Republic of Congo (former Belgium Congo) in 1898. In ancient times, it was also chewed by the Buganda tribe in Uganda.
It draws its name from Robusta, the trade name of a Belgium horticultural firm that marketed the coffee species after its discovery in the early period of the 20th Century.
The coffee beans were initially known as ‘Coffea laurentii’ in honor of Emil Laurent, the Frenchman who discovered the crop growing wildly in Belgium Congo. It changed to ‘Coffea robusta’ after the Belgium firm started marketing it.
Uganda is the biggest producer of the crop in Africa. It produced 4.8 million bags in the 2015-16 season, which is a record in the nation’s robusta coffee production history.
Robusta and Arabica coffee are the leading exports for Uganda. In 2015, the nation exported 285.3 million kilogrammes.
Robusta accounts for about 40 percent of total coffee production in Africa annually. In 2015, Uganda and Ivory Coast produced about 7 million bags of robusta coffee. Other countries that produce the coffee variety include South Sudan, Ethiopia and Congo Brazzaville.
In 2015, Nespresso, a global coffee giant started sourcing for robusta beans from South Sudan. This was the first time in the nation’s history and marked her first non-oil export.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, robusta production was ravaged by pests, diseases and civil war in major producing nations. These were Uganda, South Sudan, Congo and Ivory Coast.
Towards the end of 2001, about 50 percent of robusta coffee in Uganda had been wiped out by Coffee Wilt Disease (CWD), a fungal infection. It started in 1993 and destroyed more than 12 million trees in the central and western regions of the East African nation.
Robusta is mainly used to blends and in instant coffee because it is widely considered to have a lower quality in taste to arabica.
Robusta has higher concentrations of caffeine than arabica, a stimulant found in coffee. It is also highly acidic.
Before it discovery, Robusta coffee trees used to grow naturally in the equatorial forests of Ethiopia, South Sudan, Uganda, Congo and West Africa regions.
