Ethiopia is the origin of coffee. However, due to various factors, the country has not been benefiting from this abundant resource. Not only in terms of export earnings, the nation could not also yet improve farmers’ livelihood through maximizing the production of coffee. Among the constraints are poor production system, lack of market chain and shortage of value added product exchange.
Recently, the country has launched EU Coffee Action for Ethiopia: EU Café project intended to improve coffee productivity and then farmers’ livelihood. The project supported by the European Union is mainly intended to increase productivity and penetrate the international market. To this end, the EU has pledged 15 million euro offer. The project will have five years term and is believed to be a mechanism to curb the aforementioned problems that hinder the country’s coffee productivity.
According to Sani Redi, State Minister of Agriculture, the project mainly focuses on exploring and distributing productive and climate change resistant coffee seed species. It is also part of the project to improve the market chain and benefit both the suppliers and consumers of coffee product. As to him, the European Union is the major importer of Ethiopian coffee product. Therefore, the project will help to consolidate such business relations by curbing constraints in the sector.
The EU had once launched similar project in Ethiopia. And it had been also supporting various projects that aimed at spreading climate change and plant disease resistant coffee seedlings. However, the support was interrupted when the office of the then coffee authority went non-operational. Hence the EU Café project was launched following the reestablishment of the organization as the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority (ECTA).
According to ECTA Director General Adugna Debela, the project is set to address the major hindrances in producing coffee as identified by the authority. As to him, the project is significant to benefit the farmer and other stakeholders engaged in producing coffee through sophisticating procedures and quality of coffee production. The project will be applied in various areas that are suitable for coffee production.
Accordingly, 16, 10 and two woredas that have been identified in Oromia, SNNPs and Amhara States respectively are targeted by the project. There is also a plan to interconnect about five million farmers with private owners at woreda level so that the project will not be valueless when it get non-operational based on the term after five years. On the other hand, the country is also promoting the brand of its national coffee product, according to Adugna.
Dominic Dovox is EU Rural Transformation Program Coordinator in Ethiopia. He believed that the EU Café project has mutual benefit as Europe imports 42 percent of Ethiopian coffee product. More than four million Ethiopian farmers lead their life making coffee their livelihoods. Therefore, about 15 million jobs will be created through various value-adding production processes when the project gets fully operational. Thus, the project will possibly support those who engaged in coffee production and transaction, he said.
On the other hand, it is important to identify major role players in the transaction. By doing so, Ethiopia can benefit the farmer and exporter of its coffee product. This would enable the two stakeholders to get their fair share through avoiding market manipulators, said Oromia Bureau of Agriculture and Natural Resource Deputy Head Mehamed Sani.
As to him, his bureau has been working mainly to enable farmers to get more products through applying advanced harvesting system. However, various problems have been witnessed as most of the farmers are aged and unschooled.
Occasionally, the farmers rejected to replace old coffee trees by new ones arguing that the coffees are inherited from their ancestors; but the bureau is exerting efforts to evidently train the farmers with active participation of agricultural experts in person and the public awareness is rising through time. “We are also working with the farmers to aware them the way they can increase earnings through ensuring the quality of their coffee.”
The country has not been working in creating shortcut and directly connecting the farmers and exporters. However, the current effort is to ensure sophisticated marketing system where the producer and supplier can get their benefit depend on their efforts.
In the other way, the government is working to prevent product reduction in farmlands where the soil is affected by acid. This includes soil preservation activities implemented in 75 woredas in the state. In 2019/20 budget year, the bureau planned to cultivate over 1.4 million hectare of land and produce about 7.2 million quintal of coffee, as to Mehamed.
Country’s burdensome coffee market chain has discouraged a number of producers and suppliers. Therefore, avoiding such problem is inevitable and is one of the objectives of the EU Café project. Previously, agents had been collecting excessive earnings gambling (tricking) between farmers, suppliers and exporters.
They even set a price to products. To curb the problem, the government has set a law and it is working to implement it this budget year. According to the new law, farmers can directly deal with suppliers without any interference of brokers. This also enables the suppliers to meet exporters.
Therefore, they would safely be kept from market manipulators and get fair share. The country also needs to invest more in the farmers to possibly exploit opportunities to produce more quality coffee. To this end, inspecting and monitoring activities are a must to ensure the proper implementation of such projects.
The Ethiopian Herald October 1, 2019
BY YOHANES JEMANEH
