BY GIRMACHEW GASHAW
Ethiopia is the motherland of Coffee Arabica. It is endowed with a rich variety of coffee and its diverse origins. Ethiopian coffee is rich with original flavor and aroma because of the geographical (altitude, soil, temperature, rainfall, topography, ecology), genotypic and cultural variety within the country.
Coffee has been growing in Ethiopia for thousands of years, in the forests of southwestern highlands. The word coffee derives from Kaffa, name of a place in the South Western Ethiopian highlands where coffee was first discovered. It is also known to be the first Coffee Arabica exporter in Africa and is currently the fifth largest coffee producer in the world.
About 1,000 years ago, coffee was a goatherd in Ethiopia southwestern highlands. It was discovered in the Kaffa area where its first blossom gave its name to coffee. It is believed that coffee cultivation and drinking began as early as the 9th century in Ethiopia. It cultivated Yemen earlier, around AD 575.
It originated in Ethiopia, from where it traveled to Yemen about 600 years ago, and from Arabia began its journey around the world. Among the many legends, Kaldi, an Abyssinian goatherd, who lived around AD 850 found the origin of coffee.
Ethiopia is endowed with an ideal production environment for growing coffee with a combination of appropriate altitude, temperature, rainfall, soil type and its PH value. Ethiopia, being the epicenter of the origin for Coffee Arabica, possesses a diverse genetic base. Ethiopia produces a range of distinctive Arabica coffees and has considerable potential to sell a large number of selections of specialty coffee.
Ethiopian coffee produces hard-type coffee beans, with intense flavors and aromatics. Fruit flavors are common in all regions, though the specific fruit character varies from region to region. Berry aromatics are relatively common, as are citrus and chocolate.
Basically, Ethiopian coffee is organically produced and it is low yielding with highest cup quality. Apart from producing specialty coffee, Ethiopia has now promoted its coffee participating in various coffee platforms.
The country, for instance, has gained a lot in participating in the specialty coffee expo which was held last April. It was the largest coffee platform which enabled the country to exchange new information and ideas about specialist coffee. The expo was attended by 50 organizations that are engaged in coffee production, export and related tasks.
On the other hand, Ethiopia is going to partake in the world of Coffee trade show that was originally scheduled to take place in Warsaw and later on transferred to Milan, Italy due to the war between Ukraine and Russia.
Participating in such an international platform is significant to Ethiopia in terms of promoting its green Gold to the rest of the world. In the event which will be carried out from June 23-25, over 56 Ethiopia based institutions and individuals are registered and expected to partake in the event.
Coffee producers drawn from 70 countries will partake in the event. The five Championships—Latte Art, Coffee in Good Spirits, Cup Tasters, Cezve/Ibrik, and Roasting—will also be held in Milano platform.
Participating in such coffee platforms has dual advantages. One is to exchange ideas between sellers and buyers so as to increase specialty coffee. And the platform serves as a means to sell the coffee for the new customers.
In doing so, Ethiopia Coffee export hit a record-breaking 1.2 billion USD following multifaceted efforts made by government and stakeholders to penetrate the international market.
The record-breaking revenue has been earned from export of over 300,000 tons of coffee to the international market. Coffee has continued to be the major export item of Ethiopia, citing China as the leading destination for the market.
The very reason behind the increased coffee export is, the recurrent drought and frost occurred in three consecutive days in São Paulo and Minas Geraes — Arabica coffee producing areas are seriously affected. This contributes to declining coffee exports by 14 million bags.
In May 2019, the coffee sold at a minimum price of 0.87 dollars per pound while in February 2022 the price increased three fold and escalated to 2.60 dollars. The reason for the price increase is the decline of coffee product supply in the international market.
The need to work hard on traceability, certification, logistics and contract management in order to tap into growing demand for Ethiopian coffee by the international community. Coffee promotion tasks should further be carried out so as to increase coffee sales. In doing so, Ethiopia can keep up its position in exporting better quality and quantity coffee products to other parts of the world.
The Ethiopian Herald June 19/2022
