The government of Italy and United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) on Monday April 3, 2017 signed a financing agreement to help increase incomes of Ethiopian coffee producers.
The finance is intended to support a project entitled “Improving the Sustainability and Inclusiveness of the Ethiopian Coffee Value Chain through Private and Public Partnership”.
The project, supported by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation with a budget of 2.5million Euros, will be implemented by UNIDO in close collaboration with Ethiopian institutions, including the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Development and Marketing Authority.
The project will be implemented in Addis Ababa, and two regional states, Oromia and Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ (SNNP), over three years.
Its aim is to increase the quality, traceability and international recognition of Ethiopian coffee in order to raise coffee export revenues and the incomes of smallholder farmers.
This initiative, which is in line with Ethiopia’s second Growth and Transformation Plan (GTPII), will implement strategic activities to support smallholder farmers and cooperatives through technical skills transfer.
In addition, the technical capacities of the Coffee and Tea Development and Marketing Authority will receive support.
The first coffee roasting training center will be established in Addis Ababa with a view to improving local expertise and upgrading the country’s roasted coffee production capacity.
The partnership-based approach defines concrete working models of cooperation between governments, stakeholders, donors, private sector actors and UNIDO.
It is expected that the project will improve coordination among all the actors involved in the coffee value chain, and raise the quantity and quality of exported coffee, leading to an increased presence of Ethiopian coffee on the international market.
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