By Robert Sauers

With more than 500 billion cups consumed annually, coffee is the most popular beverage in the world. In the United States alone, an estimated 150 million people drink an average of 3.1 cups of coffee per day.

Even though the United States is the world’s largest buyer—accounting for almost 25 percent of global green (unroasted) coffee imports—Ethiopian coffee amounted to only 1 percent of U.S. imports in 2011 to 2012, and Ethiopian farmers produce less than 5 percent of the world’s supply of coffee.

Those are statistics Ethiopian coffee producers and USAID want to see go up significantly.

Between 2006 and 2011, USAID implemented a development program for the specialty coffee industry that provided technical assistance to more than 25,000 farmers; supported certification and specialization initiatives; and helped create new market linkages with international roasters. Sales for USAID-supported coffee clients nearly doubled from $22.9 million in 2006 to $41 million in 2011. Farmers in the USAID project increased their yields by 37 percent over the national average and the Agency helped certify nearly 28,000 hectares of coffee-production area, farmed by 12,000 smallholder farmers.

Today, USAID continues to strengthen the coffee industry through Agribusiness Market Development, its flagship project under the U.S. Government’s global hunger and food security initiative, Feed the Future, and its largest contribution to the Government of Ethiopia’s Agricultural Growth Program.

“Our vision for Ethiopia is to maximize commercial returns for unique, traceable coffees in export markets,” said Dennis Weller, USAID’s mission director in Ethiopia. “To achieve this, we are working to improve productivity and quality at the smallholder level, simplify the current coffee standards and grading system, expand traceability for importers, and raise the industry’s awareness of international market opportunities to secure higher prices in export markets.”

Coffee Is Life

With more than 6,000 varieties of coffee to its name, Ethiopia is the largest coffee producer in Africa and the fifth largest in the world behind Brazil, Colombia, Vietnam and Indonesia. During the 2012-2013 growing season, the country’s rich volcanic soil and high elevation produced 8.1 million bags (60 kilograms each) of coffee. Nonetheless, Ethiopia is only the ninth largest exporter, partially because Ethiopians consume as much as they export. For Ethiopians, it is more than just a beverage to drink—it is a way of life. (See info box below.)

Coffee is also a major economic activity in Ethiopia and the country’s top export earner—accounting for $745 million in the 2012-2013 fiscal year. Smallholder farmers grow almost 90 percent of Ethiopia’s coffee on more than 500,000 hectares of land. In all, coffee sustains the livelihood of over 15 million people in Ethiopia.

So it seems counterintuitive that Ethiopia lacks a central entity to oversee activities in the coffee sector. This means too little collaboration and knowledge-sharing to improve production, processing and infrastructure. Limited knowledge and inattention to coffee quality damages the end product and leads to coffee being sold at lower prices, which negatively impacts everyone in the value chain, from grower to trader.

“While much of Ethiopian coffee trades at a discount in relation to international market prices, the country’s diverse coffee varieties have the potential to increase exports of quality coffees by more than 75 percent,” said Weller.

Increasing Income for Farmers

In spite of volume and strong coffee traditions, Ethiopian farmers have remained among the poorest in the world. To address this, USAID trains farmers on better harvesting, processing and storage methods to boost yields while improving product quality and marketability. These new methods should result in increased farmer incomes.

Alemu Abagero, one of 1,447 members of the Omo Beko primary cooperative in Oromia, received training through the USAID activity to improve the procedures he uses on his 2-hectare farm. Prior to the training, Abagero harvested all types of cherries—the ripe, overripe and unripe—then dried and sold them to the local market.

Read more: Something’s Brewing in Ethiopia

Source:USAID