The Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture reports the country’s coffee industry is one of the nation’s largest economic drivers, with the once-modest export now a billion-dollar industry.
Ethiopia‘s Agriculture Minister Addisu Arega said the industry now generates US$2.7 billion in foreign currency and sustains the livelihoods of more than 20 million farmers nationwide.
Speaking at a forum on Progress for Sustainable Growth, the Minister highlighted that five years ago the country’s coffee export revenue was limited and averaged less than 200,000 tonnes a year.
Minister Arega said the growth has been fuelled by the Green Legacy Initiative, which has overseen the planting of billions of coffee seedlings and expanded both production and export capacity.
To further strengthen the coffee industry, the Ethiopian Government announced it will encourage closer links between growers, processors, and exporters to maximise the country’s competitive edge in the global coffee market.
According to the Ethiopian News Agency, Minister Arega says the impact is being felt at household level as coffee farmers enjoy higher incomes, greater savings, and new opportunities to expand their businesses.
This export growth comes after China informed the World Trade Organisation (WTO) of its expanded zero-tariff policy for Least Developed Countries (LDCs) that maintain diplomatic relations with Beijing. This policy has the capacity to open up the Chinese market for African coffee growers such as Ethiopia.
