- Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority (ECTA) disclosed that the vertical coffee market linkage is benefiting farmers, export associations, and coffee suppliers thereby avoiding manipulators.
Authority Director General Adugna Debela (PhD) told The Ethiopian Press Agency (EPA) that the Authority is working on alternative approaches to legal coffee producers and suppliers in order to benefit them and the country sustainably as well.
Accordingly, he said, the Authority is establishing a platform of vertical integration system in which the farmers directly provide their coffee product to the international market, creating close relation amongst farmers and coffee suppliers, facilitating an environment for suppliers to involve as producers, and widening the benefit of women through "Women in Coffee" schemes.
The Authority secured 620 million USD from coffee export of the planned 1.75 billion USD to be achieved this fiscal year, he said, adding that the Authority is working hard to achieve its target utilizing the suitable season.
He further stated that 80% of the coffee pruning that has been carrying out on 500,000 hectares is achieved.
Adugna expressed that the pruning is significantly helpful to increase the productivity and production of coffee by three folds whereas improving the quality by 30 % to 40 %. The effort has paid off as the international coffee market was reduced last year by 32 % while the quality of Ethiopian coffee increased by 18 %.
He remembered that the vertical coffee market linkage was commenced three years ago and gained merely 700 million USD whilst the authority secured 1.42 billion USD from exported 300,000 tons of coffee in 2022.
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Now a days, the vertical coffee market reaches 80% up to 90 % coverage compared with the ECX system. Besides, the coffee plant coverage increased from 600,000 hectares to 1.2 million hectares at present following the direct market linkage approaches.
"The persistence of a long market chain (complexity), bureaucratic red tape, and illicit trade are among the serious challenges that hindered to ensure quality coffee product to the international market and traceability is under question over the past many years," he noted.
Ethiopian Coffee Exporters Association President, Desalegn Jena said the international standard for specialty coffee requires scoring over 85 % qualities. Therefore, encouraging the vertical market and stakeholders' integration should be done to get adequate benefit from coffee sector.
Sidama State Coffee Providers association President Zerihun Kamiso agreed that encouraging scientific coffee market system, ensuring competitive advantages, and providing world standard coffee should be a priority issues to benefit the country from its popular cash crop.
In Ethiopia, there are over 600 coffee exporters applying the vertical scheme and supply their product to the international market while they are expected to be led by knowledge and research to get adequate benefit from coffee product and be competent internationally, it was learnt.
