The 4th International Coffee Conference kicked off Monday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at the United Nations Conference Center under the theme “Nurturing Coffee and Diversity.”The Conference attracted more than 1,000 international coffee producers, buyers, decision makers, private sector representatives and international agencies.
In his opening remark, Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, said Ethiopia is ready to put in place coffee development and marketing system which guarantees the equal benefit of actors in the coffee industry.
Ethiopia, which is the origin of coffee Arabic, is the principal beneficiary from coffee export. Coffee accounts 25 percent of the total export earnings of the country, he said.
Ethiopia and Uganda are the only among the 25 coffee supplying African countries with no decline in coffee productivity; he said, attributing this to the due attention Ethiopia has given to the sector.
According to the Premier, Ethiopia has set a target of becoming the second largest coffee producing country in the world within the coming five to seven years.
Hailemariam expressed his hope that the Conference will discuss on how to solve the many challenges of the coffee industry.
Africa’s vulnerability to climate change and coffee price volatility should end, Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), Dr Erastus Mwencha, said.
In a related development, some 53 companies and unions engaged in coffee production and processing staged exhibition at the conference.
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