Ethiopia Launches Strategy to Boost Coffee Production, Foreign Currency Earnings

Addis Ababa June 30/2022 /ENA/ Ethiopia has today launched a comprehensive Coffee Development Strategy with a view to boosting the production and foreign currency earnings of the nation.

Coffee, which is the key source of livelihood for about 15 million Ethiopians, has been one of the major foreign exchange earning export commodities of the nation.

Ethiopia is also the biggest exporter of coffee in Africa with 95 percent of its organic coffee production.    

Despite efforts, however, studies indicate that the nation has not yet been able to properly reap the potential of the sector to its economy due to various reasons.

In order to reverse these predicament, a 15 years Comprehensive Coffee Development Strategy has been developed with a view to boosting the production and foreign currency earnings of coffee in addition to enhancing the benefits of coffee farmers of the country.

Speaking at the launching ceremony of the strategy today, Ethiopian Coffee & Tea Authority, Deputy Director-General, Shafi Oumer, said the objective of the strategy is to maximize Ethiopia’s coffee export revenues while also increasing value chain incomes, especially those of millions of smallholder farmers who contribute to over 85 percent of production.

The strategy, which is expected to be operational till 2033, will enable the country to raise the  annual export revenues to between US 3.6 – 4.6 billion USD, assuming a conservative price and high price scenario, Shafi said.

The strategy is also expected to increase the annual coffee production of the nation to 1.26 million metric tons from 470,000 metric tons back in 2019, he added.

The annual farmers' income  will be increased from  468 million US in 2019 to between 2.7- 3.5 billion USD in 2033, he said.

According to Shafi, the strategy implementations will also directly create employment for at least 2.7 million people across the coffee value chain by increasing the production, processing, and marketability of Ethiopian coffee.

The strategy is designed to address key challenges that hamper the growth of the coffee sector, he added.

The strategy is divided into six key pillars that correspond to important sections of the Ethiopian coffee value chain, research, production and extension, value-addition, processing, marketing, and strengthening of the coffee sector, he elaborated.

The Comprehensive Ethiopian Coffee Strategy would have been launched in 2019, however, it  was disrupted until now due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Technoserve, Senior Coffee Programs Manager, Catherine Musangi said Ethiopia is very well-endowed with very good climate conditions with huge diversity and varieties.

She further said that it is possible for the entire value chain to be revolutionized to help the  farmers earn more and make a living income out of it.

However, it is very important to join hands among stockholders, she underlined.

It is to be recalled that the nation has managed to earn over 1.2 billion USD in the first 11 months of this fiscal year alone, which is the biggest coffee earning in this country’s history.