Sirari

Sirari station in the Tarime District Mara region is one of the latest stations to serve coffee growers in Lake zone (Mara, Mwanza and Geita). Tarime District is situated near Lake Victoria, bordering Kenya. Mara is renowned for its natural, hard Arabica coffee produced in Tarime, Butiama, Serengeti, and Rorya Districts. The zone has an estimated 35,000 ha of arable land of which the current area under coffee production stands at 9327 ha under Arabica production and 105 ha under Robusta production. Approximately 7,750 smallholders from 46 villages currently produce natural Arabica and about 400 farmers from 15 villages have opted for Robusta. The average production for the district is around 2,300 tons per year - an average of 0.38 tons per ha of clean coffee.

Tarime receives bi-modal rainfall of between 1200-1600mm (highlands) and 900-1200mm (midlands). The long rainy period is between March and May and the short rainy period is between August and November.

The function of Sirari Station is to support the development of the coffee industry in the Lake zone by disseminating proven technologies to district extension staff, farmers, and estates. This is achieved by training courses, promoting extension messages, supporting the central research program by facilitating on-farm and on-station research, promoting effective two-way linkages, facilitating Participatory Approach, and implementing village-based training.