No visit to Ghana is complete without a taste of Labadi iced Latte. Named for a beachside neighborhood in Accra, it’s a popular blended espresso drink from Jamestown Coffee Company, prepared with fresh Ghanaian coffee, sweetened milk, chocolate syrup, and ice. In this drink we see the bigger picture of coffee in Ghana, a nation that’s much better known for producing chocolate than it is for growing coffee. But cocoa harvests are down in recent years, impacted by climate change. And now a revolution is brewing where Ghanaian farmers are complementing cocoa by growing more and more coffee each year, with promising results.
Coffee Background in Ghana
Coffee farming in Ghana is mainly focused on robusta. Even at the peak of Mount Afadja (Ghana’s highest point), the country only rises to around 885 meters above sea level, which is far below the ideal growing conditions for Arabica. According to Agriculture in Africa Media, the area under coffee cultivation in Ghana between 1970 and 1980 was around 13,500 hectares. Severe drought and bushfires reduced this area to just about 3,170 hectares by 1985. Coffee farming received limited attention here until the early 1990s, when Ghana launched something called the Agricultural Diversification Project (ADP). This intervention increased coffee production from 123 tons in 1984 to 5,700 tons in 1999. But wihtout formalized pricing systems—and little in the way of international interest—the story of coffee in Ghana remained muted.
The formation of the Coffee Rehabilitation Project (CRP) in 2011 led to a rise in production to 12,650 tons in 2015. The government also rolled out Planting for Export and Rural Development (PERD), a program that develops and distributes improved coffee planting materials. Today, old and abandoned coffee farms have been rehabilitated, while new ones have been established, yielding an estimated 37,000 60kg bags of coffee annually.
The Rise of Cafes and Roasters
Today Ghana is the third smallest producer of coffee in Sub-Saharan Africa, but something of a paradigm shift in Ghana is underway. According to experts, the growth in the coffee market in Ghana is motivated by changing consumer preferences (such as coffee as an alternative to cocoa), new trends in the sector (increased demand for specialty coffee), local circumstances (like promotions by the Ghana Cocoa Board), and basic macroeconomic factors (such as growth in population, urbanization, and increased income).
Some of the coffee cafes and roasters leading the coffee revolution in Ghana include Asili Coffee Purveyors, Kawa Moka Coffee Roasters, and Jamestown Coffee Company. These follow trends shown in other countries such as Uganda and Mozambique. Let’s take a closer look at each of these brands, to better understand the state of play for Ghana’s burgeoning coffee sector.
Asili Coffee is a Ghana Cocoa Board-licensed coffee dealer that operates in every phase of the coffee value chain. It is located at Akropong-Akuapem in the Eastern Region of Ghana, where it has established a processing plant and an outgrower initiative that produces coffee in rural farming communities. Its mission is to use coffee as a catalyst for socio-economic change and rural development in Ghana. According to John Francois, Founder and CEO, Asili serves as a platform for shattering the glass ceiling of cyclical poverty in Akuapem and beyond, through contract farming and the democratization of quality coffee for consumers. Their work directly addresses the following four SDG goals: reducing poverty, reducing hunger, offering decent work and economic growth, and focusing on industry, innovation, and infrastructure.
“Asili delivers filter coffee in a diffuser bag, akin to tea,” Francois tells us. “This innovative product was developed to make filter coffee accessible to the domestic market, where affordability and ease of use are major constraints.” A bag of Asili contains around 10 grams of Robusta, and is available for purchase as a single unit or in a box of 10. The company also offers a premium brand, a carbonated drink, and trading in green coffee and contract roasting.
According to Emi-Beth Quantson, Founder and Chief Caffeination Officer, Kawa Moka was born from a simple but bold idea: that Ghana can produce, roast, and enjoy its own coffee at world-class standards. Since 2015, the company has worked with over 450 smallholder farmers across four coffee enclaves in Ghana, generating impact for more than 4,000 households across Ghana’s coffee belt. They have trained 600+ women, men, and youth, helping them see coffee as both art and livelihood.
“Our operations span from farm to cup local sourcing, in-house roasting, and continuous innovation,” Quantson tells us, adding that “beyond the roastery, we run pop-up cafes, barista academies, and consumer education programs that bring coffee culture to both rural and urban communities.”
Jamestown Coffee Roasters began as a passion project to prove that excellent coffee could be made in Ghana and enjoyed in beautifully designed local spaces. Founded by Kwasi Osei-Kusi in 2018, Jamestown started as a small-batch roastery (200–300 kg in its first year) and has scaled to roasting five to six tons annually, sourcing single-origin beans from Kpedze in the Volta Region. Inspired by global cafe culture and hands-on experience with his previous brand UpCountry Coffee, Kwasi opened an open-roastery cafe in Nyaniba/Osu in 2020 and later expanded to East Legon, deliberately blending an industrial-chic aesthetic with local art and community events.
“Jamestown’s menu and retail strategy involves selling bagged roasts in supermarkets and online, and serving brunch, specialty coffee drinks and all-day meals, reflecting its aim to add value locally rather than export raw beans,” Karen Gyan-Davies, the Marketing Manager tells us. “Today Jamestown positions itself as a cultural hub and industry player: it advances Ghana’s specialty-coffee reputation by proving local sourcing, roasting, retail distribution, and cafe culture can be commercially and creatively sustainable.”
Why Ghana Coffee Matters
According to John Francois of Asili, Ghana may never fully transition from cocoa to coffee, which currently comprises around 25% of the nation’s export revenue. However, with the efforts of the country’s regulator (Ghana Cocoa Board), private sector actors, and development partners, coffee is poised for serious growth in the yeras to come.
“Projecting based on ideal world scenarios, Ghana is on route to becoming a player,” Francois tells Sprudge. “In the next five years, Akuapem alone, we’re projecting to treble our acreage under cultivation. Asili’s extension into the Volta area further provides avenues for organized expansion. Nationwide, there are other planting areas that are also developing gradually. So the future of coffee in Ghana is bright.”
Emi Beth-Quantson of Kawa Moka, who is also a Board Member of the Specialty Coffee Association and the GiZ Agribusiness Steering Committee, agrees that coffee transformation in Ghana has expanded past Accra and into Kumasi, Tamale, Sunyani, and beyond. iN 2025 young people in Ghana are opening cafes, roasting closer to origin, and supermarket shelves proudly carry Ghanaian coffee. Today, Kawa Moka coffee is enjoyed in Japan, the US, the UK, Europe, Canada, and across Africa, proudly carrying the Ghanaian story in every cup.
“We’re not replacing cocoa, we’re diversifying opportunity,” she tells me. “Climate change and price volatility have made many cocoa farmers rethink their dependence on a single crop. Coffee offers an alternative that complements cocoa.”
Karen Gyan-Davies of Jamestown observes that there has been a steady rise in specialty cafes and third places. Where once Ghanaians were mostly consuming instant or basic brewed coffee, now there are many more specialty cafes offering single-origin beans, artisan brewing methods, and more curated interior spaces. These new specialty hang-outs are entering malls and key urban areas in Accra, Kumasi, and Takoradi.
“Over the next five years, Ghana’s coffee sector is likely to grow steadily but remain a complement and not a replacement to cocoa, which has been a major export for decades,” Gyan Davis says. “We can expect increased smallholder planting, stronger domestic roasting and consumption, and higher specialty-grade output if current programs scale.”
Daniel Muraga is an anthropologist and freelance journalist based in Nairobi.