ADDIS ABABA – The second National Coffee Day was celebrated in Bonga town, Kaffa zone, SNNP Regional State on December 23, 2014.
During the celebration, some 145 coffee grower farmers and stakeholders represented from various regional states received an award and medal.
In Ethiopia, 1.3 million small farmers are directly dependent on coffee for their livelihoods, while 15 million people utilize coffee indirectly for their income, Agriculture Minister, Tefera Deribew, said on the occasion.
Though coffee accounts 10 per cent of the total agricultural GDP, a lot need to be done to increase productivity and become competitive at the global market, he said.
Chief Administrator of SNNP Regional State, Dese Dalke, on his part said following the efforts made to increase productivity, farmers managed to reap 14-30 quintals of coffee per hectare.
Dese finally called upon all stakeholders to increase productivity through effectively utilizing the untapped resources of the region and implementing modern farming system.
High-ranking federal government officials as well as invited guests attended the event, it was learnt.
