Bahati Hussein Ramadhani
Page: 33-44
Volume: 2, Issue: 2
Published at: 30 Sep 2025
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Kilimanjaro’s coffee economy offers a compelling lens through which Tanzania’s historical engagement with global systems can be examined. From German colonial plantations to British cooperative structures and contemporary participation in global fair-trade markets, coffee production has shaped the region’s economy, social structures, and international relations. This paper employs the Sound–Place–Storytelling (SPS) methodology to document and interpret the aural heritage embedded within the coffee economy of Kilimanjaro. By capturing and analyzing soundscapes from plantations, pulperies, Agricultural Marketing Cooperative Societies (AMCOS), auction floors, curing factories, and transport networks, the study reconstructs the historical and socio-economic transformations of the region. Using sound mapping, oral histories, and participatory audio walks, the paper demonstrates that coffee is not merely an agricultural commodity but also a repository of memory, diplomacy, and cultural exchange. It argues that aural archives constitute vital intangible heritage resources that contribute to historiography, heritage conservation, and global-local linkages in Tanzanian history.