ADDIS ABABA – Ethiopia needs to improve the volume and quality of its coffee production to balance the demand for domestic consumption and export, said a coffee researcher.
Dr. Bayata Belachew, a coffee researcher who previously worked at the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research told The Ethiopian Herald that though the country could consume all of its coffee production locally as there is increasing demand, it is exporting coffee in large amount for the sake of generating foreign currency.
In order to balance the increasing domestic consumption and export demand, the country needs to significantly boost the volume and quality of its coffee production. For this, research needs to have a central place, he added.
This requires the right mix of budget, policy, the cooperation of stakeholders and government intervention. “A successful intervention could make the country among the top coffee producing countries.”
Most of Ethiopia’s coffee farmers are not benefiting well from their production. Hence, their capacity has to be improved so that they earn better income. There is also a need to improve the supply of inputs and technology and provide capacity building training for the farmers.
There are various technological packages that could double or triple the current production, Dr. Bayata said. The utilization of agronomic and agricultural inputs is crucial to increase and improve productivity.
He also added that the country has the abundant potential for coffee production as coffee can grow in most parts of the country.
As to him, at the continental level, countries consume less than two percent of their coffee production locally. But in Ethiopia’s case, it is much higher.
Two years ago, Ethiopia has come up with a new export reform to boost foreign exchange earnings from primary export commodities. The reform is set to improve quality and introduce value addition, among others.
This is particularly true for the production of coffee. Besides its consumption, coffee production is significant to the Ethiopian economy as the source of income for about 30 percent of the general population; it is also among the country’s top export commodity.
Roast magazine in its feature under the title ‘The Bond of Coffee: Coffee Consumption in Ethiopia’ revealed that half of the Ethiopian coffee is consumed domestically and that it is second only to Brazil in domestic consumption among coffee-growing countries.
Government restrictions, however, require the export of high-grade coffees, which are designated as commercial and specialty. Coffee exports drive in foreign currency necessary to develop the local economy.
As Ethiopian coffee quality improves, international demand for all grades of coffee increases, including those intended for domestic consumption. With this view, the country is working to significantly increase the volume of its quality coffee.
The Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Development Authority (ECTDA) disclosed that it has been stumping and pruning coffee trees on 46,075 hectares of land to improve the national coffee product quality and quantity.
Berhanu Tsegaye, Coffee, Tea, and Spices Extension Director recently told The Ethiopian Herald that the campaign has been implemented in collaboration of NGOs with more than nine million Birr in Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples, and Oromia states. The Authority is also planning to expand it to other areas in the near future.
ECTDA has also formulated a document to control coffee marketing and make sure that the coffee products meet the international quality standard at every level.
The Authority has also been conducting a widespread campaign to improve the awareness of stakeholders in the coffee production industry including farmers on the issue of quality. The campaign has brought about encouraging outcomes so far.
Berhanu said the campaign has also facilitated the plan to stumping and pruning coffee in large scale.
ECTDA has also been working with Oromia Agricultural Research Institute to create a high-quality hybrid coffee. Currently, Ethiopia has 43 coffee types of coffee out of which seven are hybrid. The remaining 36 are specialty coffee.
The Authority is also planning to work with the institute in the future for more advanced hybridization. And he also underlined that this trend will expand to other states’ Agricultural Research Institute to enhance coffee quality and quantity in scientific investigation and experiment.
The Ethiopian Herald August 1/2019
BY TSEGAYE TILAHUN
